


A Family

by Ramaxy



Series: Jonathan Found Home [2]
Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Gay Sex, M/M, Minor panic attack, Multi, Read first part, SO MUCH PINNING, Sexy Times, Werewolf AU, fluff and things..., has minor abuse talk, lots of pinning, smex, unbeta, you can pin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 06:09:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11594541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ramaxy/pseuds/Ramaxy
Summary: Jonathan (along with Bryce and Ryan) begin to learn with what being a real pack means.





	A Family

**Author's Note:**

> Em... hello again! Sorry if im kind of late I hope you enjoy it :D 
> 
> if this is the first time you hear of my au or if youre new, hey, make sure you read the first part: A house. i heard its pretty gud :3
> 
> Alsooooo; theres talk about Rape and Panic attacks in this part so... TW for those of you that might get triggered. Oh and also sexy timesssss  
> Warning! This is my first time writting a sex scene so... spare my suckiness. plz haz mercy wits me *Insert pleading cat meme here*

**A Family**

Bryce was scared.

He was currently sitting beside Ryan in a small couch, glued to the side of the other werewolf as the pack chatted with themselves and ignored the elephant in the room. He looked at the other werewolves nervously, trembling slightly when some of them burst into laughter at other’s tales. Ryan squeezed his shoulders in reassurance and Bryce simply inhaled the Beta’s comforting scent.

Bryce didn’t have good experiences with large packs.

His mother got pregnant at a young age, a one-night stand, and she died giving birth to him (or so he was told). Bryce didn’t have anyone to defend him, growing up with the Alpha’s servants and learning how to do shores in the house. It wasn’t bad before… but then he presented as an omega. And his pack started to treated him like shit. They slaved him, beat him, starved him, they even _ra_ —It was horrible.  Inhumane. _Cruel_. Some of the pack members knew he didn’t deserve the treatment, but the others didn’t care. They were just happy that they were out of the pack’s range of abuse. Out of the line of fire…

Luckily for Bryce though, Ryan came into the picture.

One day, while Bryce was out hunting for his own food (the pack didn’t want to feed him that day), he had found the other wolf hunting too. They were much better at it than he was, Bryce noted with a pout. Bryce decided that he would stick around, and if the other wolf managed to hunt something big, he could eat whatever leftovers the other left. It was disgusting, but it was all he could do to survive. With those thoughts, Bryce followed the big gray wolf silently. He tried to stick to the shadows, since his white fur stood out so much, and thankfully, the other wolf didn’t see him.  

Bryce followed the wolf through the forest until the other finally managed to catch a small bambi (XD). While it was as cruel thing to do, hurting a baby animal that wasn’t with their mother, Bryce had been too hungry to care for the other smaller animal. The gray wolf snapped the other’s neck quickly, ending its life without much suffering. Bryce stalked the other wolf silently, hoping internally that the other would leave _something_ behind… even a bone would be fine with him…

What surprised him, though, was the wolf’s next course of action. Instead of digging in to his food, the grey wolf looked around intently, eyes scanning the green surrounding him before landing on Bryce’s own. Bryce froze, he had been caught. Before he could leave, the other wolf dropped low to the ground, whining lowly. Bryce was shocked, confused. The werewolf nosed the dead corpse towards Bryce with another whine, still lying flat on its stomach as its tail wagged lightly behind it. But that confused Bryce even more.

_It wants me to take the food?_

Bryce left his hiding spot slowly, hesitant steps carrying him towards the food before him, freezing every time the other barked in excitement or made a sudden movement. Before long, he was standing before the dead animal, body tense and ready to leap away. But the other wolf noticed and backed away, giving Bryce the space he so desperately craved.

Bryce started to eat the animal vigorously, smearing his soft white pelt with red in the process. He felt the yellow eyes of the other wolf on him, but at the moment, with the hunger he felt, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He quickly devoured the smaller animal, not caring that it wasn’t cooked or anything because he was just _starving_.

“Well aren’t you cute…” Bryce was startled as the soft male voice addressed him. He looked up and saw that the wolf had shifted, in its place now sat a man in his twenties, giving him a soft smile with soft brown eyes. Bryce immediately began to back up, the man noticed it and help up his hands in surrender. “I-I’m not going to do anything! I swear!” Bryce stared at the male suspiciously, growling lowly in an attempt to look if only a little threatening. His fur puffed out as he tried to make himself bigger, even though deep inside he knew he would only look ridiculous.

His suspicions were confirmed when the other man chuckled. He hissed at it, getting closer as if to attack the other male. “You’re adorable.” The other smiled, holding his hand out to pet Bryce. Bryce gave him a glare. He was no animal. “My name is Ryan. What’s yours?” Bryce glanced at Ryan from the corner of his eye before taking the dead corpse and dragging it way from the brown-haired male. “Awww come on!” The other pouted but Bryce ignored him and continued to eat like the starving animal he was.

They kept meeting in the forest, in occasions Ryan would bring some homemade food or something he bought at town for Bryce to try out. But most of their meetings they would go hunting (even though Ryan was the one doing all the hunting) and getting closer and closer. Until one day, Bryce started to tell Ryan about his miserable life.

He told him about the abuse, about his status, about what he wanted to do, about where he wanted to go… In return, Ryan told him what he knew about life. Ryan knew about games, about places,  about bad humans and good humans, about good packs where they didn’t treat their omegas like shit…

Bryce found himself longing for one.

It was hard at first, keeping Ryan a secret from the pack. He had to keep Ryan out of packlands, meet him in the borders of the territory so they wouldn’t get caught. It lasted for a couple of months, but then everything went to shit when Bryce came to Ryan with dull eyes, a battered body and reeking of sex…

Ryan snapped. Bryce had to cover for the dead body.  He knew he was going to be punished for the disappearance of the pack member, but one of the nicer members of the pack, one that had a wolf that looked like a panda, helped him. He told him that his friend was going to come, that he was going to help.

But they didn’t.

The only one that came were the alpha’s friends, another alpha, more powerful and with a stare that rattled Bryce every time that he spied on them. So, he told Ryan. He told Ryan about how tired he was, how miserable he was being, how stressed he felt, how he just had enough.

How maybe life wasn’t worth it.

 Ryan hugged him, holding him close and repeated a suggestion that had been going between them but Bryce had never accepted. Due to fear or distrust, he didn’t know. But one thing Bryce knew was that _he has had enough_. He wanted _out_.

They ran away.

Bryce really didn’t know why he waited so long for this, so long to run free, to have no worries, to play around, to eat every time he wanted…!

It was an awesome feeling: _Freedom_.

Those were Bryce’s best days, the ones where he and Ryan would just be on the run, yipping and nibbling each other while escaping. There was no fear, no sadness, only a light feeling of carelessness _. “A high,”_ Ryan had told him. They were both happy, enjoying themselves, not caring about the consequences.

But not everything lasts forever.

It wasn’t long before they entered Evan’s territory (even though back then they didn’t know that it was Evan’s). It was a pretty space that had a lot of variety but Ryan had insisted that they left, for there were too many wolf scents around. Bryce had agreed with him and they were just going to pass by without staying. But then the feral wolf found them.

It had attacked Ryan, and the two engaged in a furious battle while Bryce hid. Bryce felt so helpless, he hated it. He couldn’t do anything for the person that saved him, that left everything to help him, that cared for him. And he hated himself for it.

_(He still does)_

Ryan had to flee, trying to get the wolf away from Bryce’s position. He succeeded, the wolf followed him out of the clearing, leaving Bryce alone with his own thoughts.

Bryce didn’t know how much time he stayed hidden, but he knew that when Jon and the blonde human (He thinks the name is “Craig”) found him, he had been crying like a baby. He missed Ryan, and he didn’t know if the other was still alive. He didn’t know what he would do without the other; Ryan was his everything. His savior, his friend, his conscience, his hunter, his only family.

Only Ryan knew him for _him_ , for being _Bryce_ , not for being the omega fox. Ryan was his best friend, and he didn’t know what he would do without him.

“Bryce?” Bryce blinked, glancing at Ryan shyly as the older man looked at him with a frown. “Are you okay?” Bryce took a deep breath and nodded. He looked at the pack before him and assessed them quietly.

Some of the members, like the small wizard and the tall direwolf, he had seen back in his... old pack. The two were obviously mates, they were always seen together and they made a cute couple. There was also the weretiger, a giant that was always glaring daggers at everyone, but this time Bryce was surprised to see him sleeping peacefully with a young man caged in his arms. The younger male, a human dressed in black, was cleaning a gun while chatting with another human that looked about the same age, both were sitting next to the dark-skinned man, who was grinning at them with a cute girl sitting on his lap. There was also another couple Bryce hadn’t seen before, the two males were in the kitchen area, probably cooking something for the whole pack.

The area was filled with so much happiness that Bryce felt a little envious for it. _This was a nice pack, why couldn’t he be born in one like this? Why did he had to live in a sick pack with sick people?_

“I’m glad that you two are alright.” Bryce was startled by the new voice. He looked to the side where the alpha, Evan, was looking at the two of them with a small smile and tired eyes. His presence was strong and powerful but filled with a gentleness Bryce wasn’t familiar with. Bryce lowered his eyes, knowing not to challenge an alpha from experience, and nodded to the floor. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you guys. We wanted to help.” Ryan scoffed.

“Yeah right…” He muttered. The rest of the pack was quiet by now, looking at the interaction with interest. “Bryce had been alone for years and you suddenly appear with the best motives, to help him up? I’m sorry _alpha_ , but I don’t believe such bullshit.” Bryce winced, tensing and getting ready to flee in case the alpha was angered by Ryan’s words but Evan just chuckled. He felt the rest of the pack move unconsciously closer to their alpha, the atmosphere in the room thickening, but Evan gave them a look that stopped them in their tracks.

“Actually, my friend called me. He told me about the situation, about how scared he had been to stand up to his old alpha. ‘This needed to stop,’ he had said. And… it did. Bryce.” Bryce looked up at Evan, who was staring at him with soft eyes. “I am _so sorry_ we took so long in helping you, Bryce. But they’re gone now. You’re free now.” With those words, Evan left towards the kitchen, asking someone there for some food while Bryce pondered on Evan’s words.

‘You’re free…’ He was free… he was free! He wouldn’t see them again… he didn’t even have to leave that far, they were gone! He and Ryan could be together and build their own life! They would go to a pretty town and build a _big_ house and—

_But what if Ryan didn’t want that? Then what?_

And then he’ll be alone but he’ll be happy… and free and… and _what_?

He didn’t want to be alone again, not after meeting Ryan. Not after spending so much time with the lone wolf, after hunting with him, after learning about his life, his past pack, his friendships and heartbreaks, after being saved and helped and after feeling loved he didn’t want Ryan to leave—

Bryce whined lowly, feeling tears well up in his eyes and he quickly reached up to clean them up. People didn’t like tears, tears were suspicious, tears were a weakness, tears told them that whatever they were doing was working, tears just made them go on and on _andonandon_ —

“Shh, Bryce it’s okay…” Ryan hushed him quietly, hugging him close and Bryce clung to him because _he was going to leave him once this was over_. “I’m not leaving, I’m not leaving… I’m staying here… with you…” Ryan whispered softly, hugging him closer. “How could I leave my home?” Ryan breathed, grabbing Bryce’s face softly as he closed the distance and touched their foreheads. Bryce stared into his brown eyes through blurry tears, finding no lies behind those promises.

And so, Bryce clung tighter.

* * *

 

“I need some soup or something for Jon,” Evan whispered towards Brock as he paid close attention towards the two newcomers. The pair was obviously close, and they both had trust issues that needed some serious solving, but for the time being, Evan decided they weren’t a threat to his mate or his pack. The two lone wolves needed the comfort only a pack could bring, so Evan told his pack via pack link to get friendly with them, get them to open up and get them comfortable until Packlaw decided to take Bryce up for the trial against his old alpha.

“Of course, Evan,” Brock grinned, already working on a soup that he had been preparing for the whole pack. Evan gave him a quick hug, sharing a nod with Brian, and left to find his mate once again.

He quickly took the stairs to the second floor (where most of the pack’s rooms were located) and at the end of the hall he found the room he was looking for. Entering his room, _their_ room, his eyes wasted no time finding the bed and the precious being laying on it.

Jon was pale, with bandages around his torso and neck, a few scratches on his face, and reeking of pain but hell was he beautiful. He was like nothing Evan has ever seen before, black messy hair, perfectly shaped lips, strong features. He didn’t look frail, nothing like it. His mate looked strong, a warrior, a perfect Luna.

He neared the bed, sitting next to his precious mate with a content sigh. He grabbed the other’s hand and held it. Just… just _held it._

And it was enough.

* * *

 

Brian saw with a fond smile as Brock hummed quietly to himself, happily stirring the soup.

Brock stopped when he saw his boyfriend’s smile.

“What?” He asked, feigning an annoyed scowl. Brian chuckled and hugged his side.

“You seem oddly happy, that’s all…” Brock hummed in agreement, continuing to stir the soup and adding a couple of ingredients. Brian stared at him critically. Brock looked oddly content, maybe it had something to do with Evan’s mate or the fact that Jonathan was practically accepted into their pack without any initiation…Wait.  “…You _planned_ this, didn’t you?” Brock laughed at his accusing tone.

“Nooooooo!” His tone didn’t convince Brian a bit, and neither did his smile.

“You _did_! You sneaky sneaky human…” Brian muttered while kissing Brock’s neck teasingly. He then proceeded to lick and suck while the other shifted uncomfortably.

“Brian—Brian, not _here_ —We’re in the kitchen-!”

“So what?” Brian muttered with a smirk. “We’ve done it here before…”

“Not with the stove on—Wait… this is _hot_ … Get it?” Brian huffed, leaning away from Brock with a deadpan face.

“You’re such a mood killer, you know that right?” Brock winked at him.

“I know babe.” Brian shook his head and turned to leave, but a horrified Scotty, Marcel and Simone stopped him. He blushed a bright red.

“Ehm… I can explain...”

“You’ve done it in the kitchen?! Are you _fucking_ serious Brian?!” Marcel screeched, pulling Simone away from the kitchen as if he was trying to protect her innocence. Brock blushed a deeper red as Simone blushed and left the kitchen with Marcel close behind. “And _you_ ,” Marcel continued before leaving the kitchen area, “you’re supposed to be the voice of reason, Brock, how come you let it happen?!”

Brock shrugged comically.

“He seduced me,” he defended himself meekly. Brian glared at him.

“Now it’s _my_ fault?”

“Not now Brian—”

“I was only searching for something that fell under the cupboard, how is that seducing you?!”

“Your ass looked nice.” Brock admitted with a blush. Brian bristled at him.

Marcel looked between the two of them and left, dragging a shocked Scotty and Simone behind him.

After their little misadventure, Brock continued to make food while Brian helped him occasionally with easier tasks. Before long, Brian had set the dining table perfectly, while Brock brought the food and arranged it. It wasn’t their best, but since they had… issues… they had to do with what they had.

Brian quickly sent a message to the rest of the pack while Brock headed towards Evan’s room with a two bowls of soup and two water bottles. He knocked on the door with his foot, waiting for Evan to give him the okay to enter. He received silence as an answer. He frowned and maneuvered to open the door without spilling any of the food to the floor.

Once inside, the image made him smile softly.

Evan was sitting on the bed next to Jon, leaning back against the headrest while his hand gripped his mate’s hand. The alpha’s face was relaxed in a way Brock hadn’t seen in a while, he looked in peace. It was obvious that Evan was being affected by the mate bond on the level most of them had been. Brock still remembers when Brian mated with him, and the blond didn’t want to leave his side nor did he want Evan or the rest of his pack near him. It wasn’t until Evan forced Brian to submit that the beta started to control his possessiveness.

With a chuckle, he put the soup on the nightstand for when Evan decided to wake up. The bowls clicked when he put them on the stand and he winced. He heard a low growl in the room and turned slowly. Evan was glaring at him with red eyes, teeth sharpened as his face contorted into a more animalistic state.

_You clumsy idiot, you know how possessive wolves are!_

 “Em… Hi Evan…?” By some godsend miracle, Evan blinked, recognizing his voice. He stopped growling and his featured became slowly human again. The young alpha stood up from the bed, stretching with a long yawn.

“What are you doing here Brock…” It sounded more like a whine than a question, and suddenly Brock felt bad for waking him up. It was crystal clear that the other packmates were tired, dealing with the whole rogue alpha deal…

“Oh… we made some food for you all. I decided to bring you some… I’m sorry for waking you up Evan, I know you’re tired and all. I just thought that maybe you wanted to eat something- and Jon too, he has been out for quite a long has he not—” Brock was surprised by a chuckle. He looked up to see Evan had stood up and was heading his way. His alpha gave Brock a hug, holding him.

“Thanks Brock, for… everything.” Brock smiled, feeling a familiar warmth course through him as he hugged Evan back. _Pack. Family. Love. **Home**. _

“No problem Ev.”‘ _Thank_ **_you_**.’  Brock whispered back.

After visiting Evan and making sure Jon hadn’t caught an infection or something worse (thankfully neither happened), Brock headed back downstairs. He wasn’t surprised to see that his pack was already shoving the food down their throats, what surprised him was that Bryce and Ryan hadn’t joined them. He headed their way with the most welcoming smile he could muster.

“Hi Bryce, Ryan,” he told them, sitting beside Bryce with a friendliness they obviously didn’t share at the moment. Ryan growled lowly at him as Bryce practically jumped over his lap to get away from Brock. “Wow, I’m hurt.” Brock pouted at Bryce, who looked at him curiously, sniffing him before relaxing. _‘He knows I’m human, good.’_ Brock thought with a friendly smile.

“What do you want?” Ryan asked, looking at Brock with narrowed eyes. _‘He doesn’t trust me, even after I saved him…’_ Brock gave them a sheepish grin.

“I was just going to invite you guys to eat with us.” Bryce’s head snapped towards Brock at the word ‘eat’ before he gave Ryan a pleading look that Brock found adorable. Ryan didn’t meet Bryce’s eyes, merely glaring at Brock.

“We’re fine, thank you.” Bryce gave a small whine at the words and Ryan winced, meeting Bryce’s eyes for a few seconds before looking away. Brock grinned.

“Well, it seems like Bryce is hungry.” Bryce gave Brock a shy look, a blush adorning his face.

“I… I kind of am…” Bryce muttered softly, so quietly that Brock almost missed it. Brock was surprised that it had been Bryce who answered him, but he didn’t let it show, instead he gave him a grin and offered his hand at Bryce.

“Then let’s go! There’s plenty of food for the two of you too.” Bryce gave Ryan a look, as if asking for permission, and Ryan sighed. The brown-haired male muttered something into the blonde’s ear and the omega stood up with a small smile.

“Okay, we’ll eat with you guys.” Ryan muttered with an annoyed face. Brock smiled contently and guided the two outcasts towards the dining room.

* * *

 

Tyler was extremely tired.

While Evan spent the last three days tending after Jon, who still haven’t woken up after the feral attack, Tyler had to fill all the paperwork with Packlaw about the feral alpha wolf. Tyler was, after all, the alpha’s second in command. He had to give them a report, _a report of all things_ , about all that happened and exactly how it had happened. Unlike the last Packlaw officer they had met, Officer Nanners, this new officer was very uptight about his work. Officer Cryaotic was a very straight to the point man. He hadn’t seen the officer face to face, but he already didn’t like the other.

But then again, maybe it was because the bastard was making him do too much work. That and the fact that he rarely saw Craig was making him irritated.

After solving the feral alpha problem, and informing the family about their deceased alpha _(Guess who had to attend the funeral?),_ Tyler had to dive in headfirst into their main case, the one with the poor omega that was, apparently, Bryce.

At that, he had to convince Brock, to convince Ryan, to convince Bryce to attend the trial. It was difficult, especially when Bryce didn’t want to attend.

“I thought I was already free?” Bryce had questioned them when they had their meeting. It was only Tyler, Brock, Ryan and the tall omega in the room, the rest of the pack, including Craig and Brian, had went to a nearby river for some bonding time. Evan had obviously abstained, keeping an eye on Jon in case his mate decided to _finally_ wake up.

“You are…” Brock started cautiously, looking at Tyler for confirmation. Tyler sighed. He was no good at this.

“They’re in trial but not for what they did to you. They’re in trial for attempting to attack another pack and Packlaw officers, so if they lose they’re only going to get about… ten years in jail? Around that.” Bryce shivered, hugging himself as he glared at the floor.

“So I’m not truly free…” Ryan sighed, hugging the omega to provide some comfort.

“But…” Brock looked at him with determination. “But if you go to their trial with our main case, _your_ case… He won’t be getting back out.” Packlaw was, after all, ruthless against alphas that abused their packs, much more so if there were omegas involved.

“You only need to go there and give your side of the story—”

“I have to be with them again?” Bryce froze, eyes widened as his form started to tremble. Tyler started to feel bad and quickly explained to ease the omega.

“You won’t be alone, you’ll be with us and with our alpha and Packlaw and they won’t touch you, I swear.” _We won’t let them touch you again._ Ryan had a grim expression on his face, but he was also determined.

“We have to do it Bryce.” Bryce took a deep breath and shook his head.

“I…I don’t want to do it… I don’t want to see them again…” The omega soon started to cry, sobbing against Ryan’s chest as the older male gave them a pleading look. It was obvious that the other wanted justice for what Bryce’s last pack had done, and this was the only way to achieve it at the moment (legally, of course).

“Bryce, listen to me…” Brock cooed, getting closer to the scared omega. The omega looked at him fearfully, tears streaming down his face as his lip trembled slightly. “If we don’t put him in jail permanently, imagine what he will do to people when he goes back out? Imagine if there’s another you? Would you want that?”

“Of course I don’t want that!” Bryce snapped, eyes flashing an angry orange that surprised them all. “No one deserves that treatment, no one! It was inhumane, I would never wish that upon anyone! I…” After his outburst Bryce fell silent, glaring at the floor with orange eyes. Tyler could feel a protective urge overcome him, and he faintly saw Ryan’s eyes flash yellow before settling back to their usual hazel. Brock was looking at the omega sadly, but there was anger ragging in his eyes.

Bryce looked up, meeting Tyler’s eyes for the first time since they met.

“I’ll help.”

With those words, and Bryce’s determination, they chose a day for the trial. It was going to be exactly in a week, and the whole pack (Brock had promised) was going to be there for Bryce and Ryan. Bryce looked nervous about having the whole pack there, but he looked grateful nevertheless.

After finally, _finally_ , dealing with all the pack’s stuff, Tyler had some time for himself and his mate. He stealthily entered the house, moving up the stairs towards his and Craig’s room to surprise his mate. It was pretty late in the afternoon, which meant that Craig was either playing videogames in their room or practicing his shooting skills in a small area he used in the forest. Opening the door quietly, he pulled on his mate bond with Craig. The responding pull wasn’t strong, but it wasn’t faint either. That meant that Craig wasn’t in the packhouse, but he was definitely in their territory somewhere. Tyler grinned. _‘I always loved the chase…’_

He quickly stripped, heading towards his window, shifting into his tiger form once outside. He gave a roar as he clung to the window frame before dropping to the ground. He left claw marks on their window but at the moment he didn’t care. He was just focused on Craig and their little game.

It was quite simple actually: Craig hid and Tyler searched for him. The catch was that Tyler was a hunter and Craig was skilled in supernatural stuff, being the awesome ex-hunter that he was. Craig knew how to tease him with random pulls of their mate bond and leaving pieces of clothing lying around on the floor to confuse his sense of smell.

They both enjoyed it, but they enjoyed what followed more.

Thinking about the hot sex they were about to have, Tyler growled and focused on Craig’s scent. He paced the forest quickly but quietly, following Craig’s scent and keeping an eye out on the top of the trees, since he knew his mate loved to stick to the heights.

It wasn’t long before he caught on to a strong trail, he saw the crossbow on the floor and the boots laying around innocently. Tyler smirked to himself. He knew Craig liked to leave his clothing around to confuse him, but the fact that he left his shoes first meant that the human was either very close or on the trees.

Looking up at the trees, he crouched, wiggling his hips as he waited for the right moment to jump when he heard a twig snap. He stopped. That wasn’t Craig. Craig wouldn’t be so clumsy…

He turned towards the sound with a growl, heading over there quietly. He crouched through the bushes and immediately stopped his growling at what awaited on the other side.

_Are you serious?_

“Oh, Tyler! Hi…Hi! What a pleasant surprise to see you here!” Craig started to chuckle nervously, while Tyler stared unamused at the other shirtless male.  The ex-hunter was holding something to his foot, and it smelled a little too coppery for Tyler’s sharp nose. He grumbled and headed towards Craig side, motioning at him to remove the shirt. Craig winced and chuckled.

“I didn’t want our game to end like this…” He muttered darkly before removing his shirt. On his foot was a pretty big gash, going from the plantar area to almost his ankle. He looked around until he found the offending object: a broken beer bottle. He hissed at it.

 _“This is the reason Evan wants us to carry a plastic bag every time_.” Tyler grumbled to himself and started to lick Craig’s foot, but the human backed away. “Wait no, Tyler. Tyler listen, I love you and all, but this is gross.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “Take me home and we’ll have Lui or Brock help me, okay?” Tyler sighed inwardly but headed towards Craig’s side. The human quickly climbed onto his back, wincing at the pain in his leg.

Tyler quickly sent a message to the guys at the packhouse, images of an injured Craig circulated through the pack link. Brock was quick to reply that he was still in packhouse with Bryce and that they would help them out. Tyler quickly turned tail towards the packhouse but Craig pulled his short hair sharply.

“Let’s go get my other stuff first.” Tyler huffed and turned to where he came from, passing by the shoes (that Craig skillfully picked up) and grabbing the unloaded crossbow with his mouth. “Don’t… ruin it please…” Craig stressed with a pleading tone, making Tyler purr in pride. “You’re an ass.” Craig grumbled as he lightly hit Tyler’s flanks.

The duo headed at a pretty fast pace towards the packhouse, where they were to meet with Brock and Bryce. Tyler had noticed that, of all the people in the pack, Bryce was more comfortable with Brock. Brian and Ryan were pretty comfortable with each other too, so that meant that whenever Brock and Bryce were together, the two werewolves left to spar or hunt. This was one of those times, for before entering the house, they had seen a large grey wolf fighting a smaller light brown one. Tyler wasn’t too preoccupied by the small fight; it happened all the time.

When Bryce saw a tiger trying to fit in through the front door, he instantly turned into his fox form and ran away, making Brock frown. Brock then saw them and immediately headed towards their side.

“Bryce, this is just Tyler.” Brock called to the small white fox as he helped Craig off of Tyler’s back. “Let me guess: Off having kinky forest sex?” Brock teased, making Craig groan.

“At least it isn’t kitchen sex.” Brock blushed and muttered under his breath _‘It was only one time…’_ as he started to drag Craig inside. Tyler stayed outside for a few minutes, looking at the two betas sparring with each other.

Ryan seemed to have the upper hand at the moment, pinning Brian to the floor with a growl. Brian gave a resounding snarl and managed to slip through, evading Ryan and tackling him to the ground. Ryan huffed and stood back up as Brian taunted him, making play bows at him and whining mockingly. Ryan growled and ran at him, making Brian grin, turn tail and run away. Starting a chase.

Tyler smiled inwardly as the two wolves disappeared into the dense forest. It was nice seeing the two wolves bond, especially since Bryce needed it more than anything. If Ryan opened up to their pack, Bryce would soon follow through. Hell, maybe they could make the small fox and his boy toy join them. Evan would surely accept them, and the duo obviously approved of their pack even with their… _differences_. Talking about the white artic fox…

Two big blue eyes were staring at him from inside the house, hiding in a corner.

He huffed at him, looking away to see if the small fox would get near him. When he turned back towards Bryce, he was standing on the doorstep, frozen in midstep. He grinned inwardly and turned back away, counting to five before turning back towards Bryce. This time, the omega was standing directly in front of him. Big blue eyes, fluffy fur and pointed ears…

_Too cute…_

Bryce didn’t shy away from him, merely looking him up and down as if he had never seen a tiger—oh.

Well that made sense.

Tyler stood still as Bryce circled around him, occasionally moving his tail to tease the small fox and scare him. The young omega glared at him every time he did it and Tyler always returned the look with a cat-like grin.

After he was done, Bryce huffed at him and went back inside. Tyler chuckled at the small werefox and turned back to his human form.

He entered the house looking for where Craig was with Brock. He was surprised to stumble into Evan on his way to his room. The poor canasian dude was looking the saddest Tyler has ever seen him, with dark bags under his eyes and a constant aura of gloom. He looked like he hadn’t showered in a while, smelt like it too.

“Evan, you okay man?” Tyler asked him and Evan just sighed.

“He still hasn’t woken up…” Evan muttered sadly, looking at the water bottle in his hands with a deject look. Tyler sighed. _‘Time to get up your motivational speech pal…’_ he thought to himself, bracing for it.

“Ev, he was pretty roughen up by that alpha bastard. You saw him, he couldn’t even recognize his own mate. He just needs time to heal. Give him that, okay?” Tyler smiled at his best friend and gave him a hug. He knew Evan needed it.

Evan immediately retuned the hug, holding him tight and taking in his scent. For any other human, this action would’ve seen weird. But for them, for pack, it was just comforting. It smelt of home, of support, of strength, of family. It was what Evan needed, and Tyler was willing to provide it. After some seconds into the hug, Tyler scrunched his face.

“Evan, go take a shower please. I don’t want to upset you, but I’m sure you don’t want to scare your mate with your looks and your smell right now. Because you look like a zombie and you stink like one.” Evan chuckled at his words and nodded at him, heading towards his room to (hopefully) take a shower.  

Tyler shook his head at Evan’s state and went towards his own room. He still remembers when he saw Craig for the first time. The human almost killed him (he had been in his tiger form hunting when it happened), the only thing that managed to save him was Lui’s magic. After their encounter with the hunters, Tyler had to explain to his pack that one of them was actually his mate. They were shocked at that, but decided to help him out. They made a plan (Evan made it actually), it didn’t work (like most of Evan’s plans) but it managed to get Tyler closer to his mate.

Turned out Craig was a college student. At that moment, Tyler was still in college, but he was about to graduate. So he decided to make a double degree with whatever Craig was having. It turned out to be a programing course and Tyler _sucked_ at it. It got to the point where it was dropping his GPA and he was starting to give up on Evan’s plan ( _not once in this whole programing fiasco Tyler has had a class with his mate),_ until one day he went to a place to get a mentor to help him out.

The moon goddess shone upon him then.

 There was Craig, with a permanent scowl as he worked on his computer. Tyler immediately tried to pull his charm on the brown-haired male and it seemed to work (though it was probably just the mate bond working its things). Things escalated from strangers to friends, from friends to lovers, and then… it all went to shit because Tyler lost control.

Tyler had shown Craig his eyes, and Craig had immediately pulled a gun on him and attempted to shot his head off. He missed, but only because Tyler had slipped from his grasp and was then running his ass off.

The next week was once of his worst ones, second only to the day their original pack was wiped out. He tried calling Craig, getting him to let him explain, to understand that without him he would die…

The hunter didn’t return any of his calls or messages.

Tyler refused to leave the house, making the rest of his packmates worry about him. Tyler was miserable. He was suffering alone, and not even his pack could comfort him.

Then, one day, Craig called back.

Tyler never answered his phone so fast in his life.

‘Tyler… T-Tyler I’m sorry… I was so blind… thinking that what I was doing was for the good of the people… I was… I was so stupid…’ There was static, and a loud thud. ‘L-Listen. They’re going to call you—I’m sorry, I had to tell them about you—They’re going to call you and tell you that I’m hurt—I’m not—But they’re going to lie to get you to come and you can’t, you can’t it’s a trap Tyler you hear me. _don’t_. _come_.’

When the call ended, Tyler had raged at everything and practically destroyed his own room. It wasn’t long before he got the call and Craig had lied. They _had_ hurt him. He could still remember Craig’s battered face and bruised naked body on the ground as the asshole focused the videocall on him.

“I’ll kill you.” Tyler had whispered at him, calmly. Like the calm before the storm.

What the bastard didn’t know was their actual numbers. Back then it was Evan, Lui, Marcel and his mate, and himself in the pack. But Evan was always friendly with most of the rogues in their territory, so when he asked them for help, they stood up with sharpened teeth.

With their small army, they raided the small cabin in the woods. Lui’s magic was always strong, so they managed to subdue the hunters without killing them. Most of them, anyways.

Tyler had killed the bastard that hurt Craig, and then he had claimed his mate then and there, before his pack, before his alpha, before the rogues and before the moon.

Craig had accepted him with a kiss, a bloody kiss that was the best kiss Tyler ever had.

Remembering his little story made Tyler grin at himself. ‘ _I’m such a badass,’_ he thought to himself as he opened the door to his shared room with Craig.

Inside his mate was whining at Brock, trying to drag his feet away from an alcohol coated towel.

“Craig! Stop being a pussy!” Brock groaned as he climbed the bed to get to Craig’s leg. Craig crawled away like his life depended on it.

“You got this wrong Brocky! My _mate_ is the pussy cat, not me.” Tyler snorted a laugh as Brock looked at him unamused and promptly dropped the alcohol from bottle on his leg. Craig let out a hiss and spat curses at Brock as the other human calmly bandaged his leg. Tyler observed the interaction from his place by the door with a grin.

“You’re doing well babe,” He called to Craig, who turned his glare in his direction.

“ _You_ are supposed to protect me. Yet you stand by and watch while I’m tortured.” Craig scoffed and Brock rolled his eyes at him.

“I’m done Craig, keep it clean and don’t mess up the bandages. Please.” Brock muttered and went out of the room, calling for Bryce. Tyler closed the door after Brock went out and gave Craig a smirk.

“I see we’re alone…” Craig rolled his eyes.

“No shit Sherlock.”

Tyler growled lowly at that, his eyes flashing a sharp blue with slits and Craig shivered.

“You’re not allowed to give me that look when you’re naked… it’s not fair…” The human muttered as he eyed the weretiger with lust. Tyler paced towards the bed slowly, taking his time until he stood before Craig, a soft growl resounding in his chest. Craig huffed at the small distance.

“Stop teasing me and fuck me already.” Craig muttered and pulled Tyler towards him, meeting his mouth hungrily and hands roaming Tyler’s body as if it were a sculpture made by the gods. Tyler wasted no time in taking control, pressing into Craig and pinning him into the bed. Craig broke the kiss, panting lightly for air.

“Can we… can we be careful with my leg?” He panted and Tyler smirked.

“Of course…”

Tyler kissed him deeply once again, breathing him in and finally having him.

It seemed like forever…

* * *

 

Evan showered while thinking about Tyler’s words.

 _‘Just give him time huh… I hope you’re right on this one friend…_ ’ He thought darkly as he rinsed the soap off his body. He gave a sigh, feeling the hot water work its magic on his tense body. He was so stressed with Jon’s state that he barely cared about his own.

Turning his water off, he got out of the shower and dried himself. Putting on his boxers he went out into his room to get a shirt and some pants. He always forgets to bring his clothes to the bathroom, but he never cared since he never shared a room with anyone before.

As he was looking through his wardrobe, he heard a rustling of sheets. He froze, turning slowly and watching as the person on his bed groaned. Evan gaped. His mate was waking up. His mate was finally waking up.

“Ugh… wha…where…” His mate muttered with a slight slur, opening the most perfect blue eyes that looked around confusedly. He looked around until his eyes landed on Evan. His eyes widened then and his face turned red. “Why-Why are you—What?! Why are you naked in here?!” He stuttered/screamed out, making Evan wince. He gave the other a smile and tried to head towards him slowly, but his mate was backing away. “Brock! C-Craig! Marceeeeeel!” His mate screamed out, falling out of the bed and taking out the IV that was stuck to his arm. Evan winced at the thud and at the pain the other must’ve felt.

“H-Hey I’m not going to do anything-” Evan started but Jon was still backing away, growling low and flashing his eyes at him. Evan mentally face-palmed. He didn’t want this to happen… hell, this was probably the worst case scenario. His mate thought he was a rapist or something worse…

_This sucked._

The door opened and Brock entered with a fluffy ball on his arms. He looked at the scene before him and understanding flashed in his eyes. Evan gave him a pleading look.

“Brock—” When Evan made a way to head towards Brock’s side Jon turned into his wolf form, standing before the human protectively with a fierce snarl. And Evan probably should feel threatened, hell, his own mate just _challenged_ him, _but fuck…_

His mate was just too beautiful and peculiar for Evan to care at the moment.

Jon had a dark black coat with white paws, pretty normal for some wolves, but what made him special was his face. The area on his face was pure white with three small patches of red, one big one of the forehead, like a small upside down triangle and two sharp lines below each of his eyes. And his eyes were a dark dangerous blue that had Evan shivering on the spot.

Evan immediately fell in love with the other’s coat. It was different, unique, special. It was _his_ , and Evan _loved_ it.

Before Evan could control it, he also shifted into his wolf form. His wolf was larger than Jon’s (since he was an alpha), and it was completely black without any other color.  His eyes were bloody red as he stared down at his mate, who was looking at him nervously now.

“Jon… Meet Evan. Our Alpha.”

Jon seemed frozen at Brock’s words, Big blue eyes staring up at Evan, assessing him, eyeing him, and Evan couldn’t help but puff himself. His wolf seemed proud with how Jon was eyeing him. Jon stopped staring at Evan’s wolf and shifted back to his human form. Evan soon followed suit.

“I’ll… erm… we’ll wait for you downstairs…” Brock stuttered, carrying a frozen Bryce in his arms as he fled the room. Evan frowned until he noticed why Brock seemed so nervous with them.

Jon was naked. His _mate_ was naked.

Evan eyed the smooth skin hungrily, eyes flashing a violent red as he let out a deep hungry growl. Jon flinched at the sound, stepping away from Evan while baring his neck. A sign of submission that only urged Evan more.

“I-I didn’t know this was your-your room Alpha…” He stuttered, looking away and not meeting his eyes. Evan stopped his advances with a frown. It was obvious that Jon wasn’t feeling any mate pulls. The raven haired male just looked straight terrified by Evan’s actions. _Was he the only one that felt their bond? Impossible!_

“I…It’s okay.” Evan managed to get out, trying to mask his disappointment with anger. Jon nodded, still not meeting his eyes and Evan felt the urge to just hug him and take him to bed and maybe kiss him and –

 _‘Stop, he’s not ours!’_ Evan growled at his wolf side as the poor thing continued to flow images of Jon towards Evan’s mind. ‘ _Yet,’_ ’The beast inside him purred.

“I-I’ll go find Brock. He-He’ll probably give me some-some clothes—”

“You can have some of mine.” Evan quickly offered. When he noticed Jonathan’s frown he cursed himself for sounding too eager. “It’s no big deal, here.” He quickly turned to get the beta some clothes while cursing himself inwardly.

After giving Jonathan some clothes, the other wolf left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Evan cursed at himself, getting angry and frustrated because Jon didn’t feel the same.

How can he not feel the same? How can he not feel the pull, the urge, the bond, _how_ …? Evan took a deep  breath. ‘ _Okay, control yourself. He’s probably confused. He’s been asleep for three days… its only normal… I just need to give him time… just… keep calm Evan…’_

He sighed, fishing some clothes from his wardrobe and putting them on. He quickly went downstairs, where Jonathan was eating a mouthful of eggs and bacon that Brock recently made (even though it was late in the afternoon). Brian and Ryan were both looking at Jonathan with happy grins while Bryce (still in his fox form) looked at Jon curiously from his place on Ryan’s lap.  Evan gulped as his mate licked his lips and moaned.

_This is torture. Pure torture._

Brian and Brock gave him teasing smirks while Bryce tilted his head to the side at Evan, Ryan looked lost in thought while petting Bryce absentmindedly. Evan cleared his throat and sat on the chair beside Jon’s. The black-haired male tensed, glancing at Evan from the corner of his eye, and proceeded to eat more cautiously. Evan sighed. This was going to get them nowhere.

“Here you go Ev,” Brock pipped in, giving Evan a plate of food while Brian sent a picture of Evan’s kicked puppy look to everyone in their pack link. Brock scoffed a laugh while Brian smirked at Evan, pleased with himself. Evan glared at Brian and stabbed his food with intent. Brian suddenly didn’t look so smug anymore.

“Jonathan, me and Bryce wanted to thank you for… for helping us out. We know that it wasn’t your obligation or anything, but… we appreciate it. So if you ever need anything from us, we’ll be there for you.” Ryan smiled at Jonathan, hazel eyes shining with warmth and happiness. Bryce yipped at the black-haired beta, cutely resting his paws on the table. Jonathan smiled at them and nodded.

“No problem.”

“So Jonathan,” Jon jumped at Evan’s sudden words, so Evan tried to speak softer to him. “Where are you from?” Jon glanced nervously at Brock, who nodded at him encouragingly, before opening his mouth and answering his questions.

After their mini questioning, Brian and Ryan invited Jonathan to play in the forest. Bryce had joined the werewolves and they started playing a pretty fun looking game of tag. Evan observed Jonathan’s wolf form dark around the bushes and trees quickly, standing a little taller than Ryan’s wolf, and definitely stronger than all of them. He sighed, wishing he could spend some more time with his mate. If only he weren’t so dodgy with him all the time…

Now he was convincing himself that Jon was his mate again… ugh…

“What’s wrong Evan? I thought you were happy Jonathan was awake…” Brock sat next to Evan. Evan just sighed in response, feeling sad with the outcome of the situation. So far, his mate didn’t want him, didn’t even show signs of their mate bond. Maybe Evan was just defective?

“What if I’m defective Brock? What if He’s my mate but I’m not his?” Brock just frowned at him, opening his mouth to say something but the sound of the front door slamming open stopped him. In came David and Lui carrying some bags while chatting about something. Lui put the groceries in their respective place and headed towards the dining room, where Evan was talking with Brock.

“What’s with the long face Ev?” Lui teased, sitting next to him. “Sleeping beauty still not up?” Evan sighed deeply and looked out the window once again, where Jonathan was running after a happy looking fox. Lui followed his gaze and did a double take. “Woah, he’s awake! Congrats man!” Lui grinned at him.

“Yeah, that’s nice.” David nodded with a soft smile of his own. Evan watched Jon until he was out of his sight and let out a groan, bumping his head to the table to clear his thoughts a little.

Why didn’t his mate want him? It wasn’t even a direct rejection; it was an ignorance of the bond! It was worse!

“I don’t understaaaaaand…” He whined. Lui and David shared a look before looking at Brock for an explanation. Brock sighed.

“Jonathan is, apparently, not feeling the pull of the mate bond.” Lui winced.

“Ouch… That must sting like a bitch…”

“Yeah, and he think he’s defective or something. Which he might be, but I don’t know. I’m just a human.”

“I’m right here.” Evan grumbled. Lui stared at Evan seriously for a few seconds before telling him something that stopped his heart.

“He could be mated with someone else.”

He let out an enraged snarl that startled all the people inside the house. His hand gripped the table as he fought to control his emotions. Jonathan was _his_ mate. Why would he be mates with someone else? Evan admits that he had dated other people before, but he didn’t mate with them! That was just… just….

Unfair…

“I said _could_ be! But I doubt it! Since-Since the others would’ve smelt the mate’s scent on him, right?” Lui turned towards his own mate, who was looking sadly at Evan. It was obvious for them that their alpha had it bad. Poor dude was going crazy with his mate problems.

“Yeah Evan. I doubt the little guy has a mate.” David said, making Brock nod at them.

“I’ll have a talk with him. Maybe he’ll open up to me,” Lui said with a grin. Evan stared at the wizard before smiling softly.

“Thanks a lot Lui…”

“Sure thing, now go rest. You look like a zombie.”

“That’s what the kitty said.”

 

* * *

 

Jonathan was having a great time.

Apart from his awful wakeup call (he challenged an alpha, what the hell was wrong with him?!), he got to meet up with Brock and Brian again. Not to mention that Bryce and Ryan were both well taken care of, and for that he felt relieved.

Plus, he was _alive_!

They were currently playing tag in the area near the pack house, with Ryan being it. The grey wolf wasn’t as fast as either of them, which made it irritated. Specially with Bryce constantly teasing him, shaking his tail up in the air and yipping at him constantly. The small white fox was a sneaky little bugger; Jon would give him that. The fox had malice, was smart and cunning, as well as playful. A good combination when you were alone.

A tackle startled him from his thoughts, he fell to the side with a face full of grey fur. Jon growled as Ryan quickly left with a wolfish snigger. Bryce yipped at him from the other side of the field, and Brian howled tauntingly at him. Jonathan got ready to pounce on them but a voice stopped him.

“Hello!” He turned, watching as a pretty short man walked into the yard near the forest, followed by a taller black-haired man. The smaller men grinned at them. “You don’t mind if we play with you guys, right?” Jon looked back at the others, who were shaking their heads, Bryce had tensed and was heading towards Ryan’s side. Brian barked in agreement and running around them at the speed of light. It was amazing how fast the other werewolf could be.

“Thank ya.” The taller werewolf said, stripping to shift to his wolf form. The smaller man took his clothes and put them near the front door and waited for his partner to shift. When the other shifted, Jon was amazed at the cheer size of the other wolf.

_‘No way…!’_

The other was obviously a direwolf, it size being larger than the alpha’s. Its color was dark, almost like the alpha of this pack but not quite. While the alpha’s fur was pure black, with no streak of other color, the direwolf’s fur had bits of white on its paw and on his face. It wasn’t noticeable if you didn’t stare hard enough but for werewolves, who had keen vision precise to hunt, it was hard to miss.

The short man climbed the wolf’s back and smiled at them. It was a kind of childish grin that had Jon smiling slightly back at him.

“Okay, listen up!” The man started in a high-pitched squeaky voice, startling Jon and the two other packless wolves. “Since we just joined, we will be ‘it’. We’ll give you ten seconds to run. And you better hurry! We’re good at finding people!” Jon and Ryan hesitated at the words, but Brian and Bryce took no time in sprinting away from the place.

“Ten, Nine, Eight—” That had them moving. Ryan sprinted after Bryce while Jon took a turn and headed away from the group. If the duo was so good at finding people it would be better if they separated instead of all running in the same direction.

“Seven, six, Apple-!” Jon faltered, laughter burning inside him as he tried to continue his run.

The other’s voice started to fade away as he ran farther and farther from the packhouse. He started running and running until he reached a familiar clearing. He stopped, panting slightly as he looked around.

‘ _This…This is where I found Scotty…’_ He thought, looking at the spot where he had defended the human. He almost smiled. This is where it all started…

He could leave.

The sudden thought startled him.

He could leave… but then… he’ll have to leave behind his new friends… Jon knew he didn’t belong in this pack—Hell, the alpha had it against him, always glaring at him and all—But for his friends, for Brock and Bryce and Ryan and Craig and Marcel and Simone… he would… he would ask the alpha if he could stay. He already had Brock’s approval, and it was obvious that the pack had a weak spot for the human.

“Little Jason~ I know you’re here~” He heard the other in a singsong voice. He winced and lay low, slowly looking around and sharpening his hearing. He heard a set of paws trying to be stealthy but failing miserably and grinned. The bigger wolf could out-strength him, but not outrun him.

Jon quickly sprinted away, ignoring the “HEY GET BACK HERE!” and the heavy paws chasing behind him. He pushed harder, making sure he had a good distance to the duo as he headed back towards the packhouse. On his way there, he saw Brian hiding behind some bushes. Feeling the adrenaline in his body, the feeling of a chase, the thrill, he did a ballsy move.

He howled.

It wasn’t a pretty howl, it sounded crazed, lonely and full of pain. Brian looked back at him, startled, and Jon just grinned at him and continued running, past him in a blur of black fur. It took about a second or two for Brian to realize that Jon had compromised his hiding spot. Growling at him, Brian followed Jon, catching up to him in no time. Jonathan continued running, pushing harder to win against the smaller brown wolf but Brian was too fast. Brian nipped at his side making Jon yelp in surprise. Brian grinned and sprinted ahead of him, making Jonathan grumble and run after him.

Before they got too far away, Brian stopped in his tracks, rising dust and pieces of wood due to the speed he was running at. Jon slid to a stop next to him. Both looked ahead to see the tall dark direwolf growling at them, blocking their path. Jon backed away slowly while Brian looked around.

“Watch where you’re going!” A sudden weight on Jon’s back startled him, making him yelp and stumble backwards. The human, sitting now on his back, laughed at his reaction and he growled at him. “David, Jason and I will be going for a walk… You keep playing, yeah?” The direwolf, David, huffed at the human and continued to try to catch the quicker werewolf.

Jon stayed still, feeling awkward with a human on his back. The human hummed, tensing his legs around Jonathan’s ribcage so he wouldn’t fall when they started moving. Jon grumbled at the feeling. It didn’t tickle, but it was an uncomfortable sensation.

“Well, let’s go Jason! To the river!” Jon growled lowly and started to head in the general direction where he came from. The river was past the clearing where he found Scotty so… yeah, probably that way.

“Where are you going? There’s a shortcut through here! Follow the light!” Jon stopped, growling loudly in annoyance and he was about to snap at the person mounting him when something amazing happened.

A flickering blue light emerged from the other’s hands, shinning brighter and levitating until it stood in front of Jon’s face. Jonathan stared at the thing in wonder, it seemed to give a happy cry as it settled momentarily in his snout before disappearing and reappearing with few more friends.  Jonathan was hit then with realization, _he saw the light_. This man was the pack’s sorcerer, the witch as the others had called him…

That made a _lot_ of sense.

“Well, you gonna move or what?” The other told him impatiently and Jon snarled annoyingly at him before trotting after the blue flickering wisps.

As he followed after the little blue fire lights, dozens more appeared, dancing around him with whispers of small promises. Jonathan couldn’t tell what the whispers meant, it was too low even for his keen hearing. A few wisps stuck to his body and to Lui’s, tickling him. Lui remained silent, looking at Jon curiously as the wisps continued to dance closely around them.

Jon started to walk, passing a couple of smaller clearings with markings on the trees and fighting marks on the ground, which greatly implied that this was their training grounds. Continuing after the wisp, he walked for a few minutes, admiring the pretty scenery and the trees, until he heard a stream. He walked a little faster at the sound, impatient to get to it and rest his paws for a bit. He was already tired, which wasn’t normal for him because he had a pretty decent stamina. But then again, Brock told him he had been sleeping for three days…

“Looks like we’re here Jason!” The wizard chirped happily, jumping down from his back and landing beside him. Jon gave him a slight glare and huffed, shaking his fur of the remaining wisps that might’ve stuck to him. The other laughed. “Awww come on! Don’t be like that, pup!” The other grinned, ruffling Jon’s fur and leaving him behind, perplexed.

Jon grumbled and followed after him.

Settling down beside the stream, he started lapping at the water as the other watched him. The wizard sat beside him and took a drink with his hands. The tanned male sighed, relaxing and basking in the slight sun that shined through the trees.

“This is good…” The other muttered, making Jon look at him curiously. He shifted to his human form, stretching slightly before falling backwards, looking at the sky. They were silent for a few minutes, Jonathan worried about the male besides him when…

“I’m Lui by the way…” The other whispered, making Jon laugh.

“ _Now_ you tell me? After you kidnap me with your little fire minions and take me to this place against my will?” Lui pouted at the other, mumbling something under his breath. Jonathan grinned at him. “My name is Jonathan, nice to meet you Lui.”

“I know, likewise Jason.” Lui grinned cheekily, and Jon glared.

“It’s _not_ Jason.” Lui just laughed and then silence settled around the two, not an uncomfortable silence, but a soothing one. It was calm and precious, just the sound of the nature around them. The wind was blowing softly, the river made a soothing round that relaxed Jon’s tense muscles as the werewolf settled into a more comfortable position.  

“Okay, let’s get to the point here.” The wizard sat up seriously, making Jon raise his brow at him.

“Ookay…?”

“What do you think about our alpha?” Jon winced and looked away. Was this some kind of test? He couldn’t tell, but he wouldn’t lie about it either…

“I…I’m scared of him…” He muttered, feeling his heard beat faster at the sole thought of those bloody red eyes staring him down… He shivered.

“Why?” Lui asked, as if truly perplexed by Jon’s statement. Jon gave a harsh laugh.

“He terrifies me… It’s just that… Every time I’m with him… my heart beats faster and… I don’t know… I just lock up and can’t really do anything. Like I’m at his mercy and I _hate_ it.” He hated feeling so useless, so helpless, so weak…

He has been weak all his life; he didn’t need a stupid alpha to remind him of it.

Lui stared at him hard for some time before asking, “Do you feel like you might let him down if you don’t try hard enough?”

Jon frowned, pondering on his feelings. He… _did_ feel like that. It was like a tense feeling, like he had to try too hard to meet the other’s approval, the other’s expectations.  Like maybe he wasn’t good enough. And he _wanted_ to be, wanted to be part of this pack. But the thought of failing was bad enough to stop him from trying. He didn’t want this to end. And the alpha, _Evan_ , could stop it all with just a command.

“Hmmm…” Lui hummed, looking at the sky with brown eyes as Jon contemplated his feelings in silence. “You never had an alpha right?” Jon blinked and asked,

“How did you know?” Lui grinned.

“That’s _exactly_ how it feels when you’re with an alpha. You feel the need to always make it up to them, to help them, do whatever they say and do it perfectly; you can’t let them down.” Lui listed and Jon frowned.

“But you’re sacred of him too?” Lui shook his head.

“I’m scared _for_ him though.”

“How so?” Jon asked, confused. Lui smiled tightly.

“I… I’m always worried that something bad will happen to him you know… I’m not as young as I look and already something very bad happened to Evan’s pack… So, I really worry for him sometimes.” Lui explained. Jon stared hard at him, assessing him.

“…How _old_ are you exactly?”

“Rude!”

The two started to laugh, and Jon finally let go of his tentativeness. He had been threading carefully around Lui’s words, but now he just let it go. He could trust this person-witch-wizard, whatever he was. They didn’t have bad intentions, they were just looking after the pack. Jonathan sighed.

“I… I dunno how I feel about him really… I know I fear him but… he’s… different…” Jon admitted. It was mostly fear what he felt for the alpha, but he also felt oddly drawn to the other. How could you be drawn to something you’re afraid of?

“Well, different is good right?” Lui asked, anticipating his answer. Jon smiled at him, looking back up at the clear skies.

“Yeah… I guess different is good.”

Distantly he heard a rustling of leaves and he turned slightly, watching as a blur of white emerged from the leaves and headed his way at amazing speed. He barely managed to shout a warning before the white fluffy fox tackled his back, sending him into the stream. He got out of the cold water spluttering and looking around to find the smaller animal.    

Bryce was looking at him with big eyes, ears back in what looked to be an innocent fox pout. But Jon glared at him because it looked _too_ innocent and there was mischief dancing in the other’s eyes. Bryce gave a snigger-like laugh and leaped away playfully, Jon glared at him while getting out of the ( _cold_ ) water and Lui laughed.

“Aren’t you a total sneaky fox?” The wizard chuckled and Bryce puffed momentarily in pride before remembering that he and Lui weren’t friends. He looked at the wizard warily and headed towards Jon’s side. Jon took this opportunity to grab the fox’s leg and pull him towards the water too. The fox yelped in alarm before getting submerged in the cold river. When he emerged, he hissed at Jon and scratched and bit his arm. Jon just laughed and got out of the water.

Bryce followed suit, fur all wet and not so fluffy anymore. Now that his fur wasn’t covering him up, the small fox shivered. Jon chuckled, picking him up gently to not startle him. He frowned at how thin Bryce was, even for a fox. Lui stood up too.

“I’m going to bring him back,” Jon told Lui, who nodded and followed after him.

On their way back, they found an angry David trying to catch a sneaky Ryan and Brian duo, who were bonding more and more. Jon smiled at that and continued. Ryan stopped his game to check up on Bryce. Jon lowered the Fox to Ryan’s face, who gave a low growl at Bryce’s state and glared at Jon. Jon looked at him with raised brows, offended.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, it wasn’t _my_ fault. _He_ started it!” Bryce grumbled quietly in his arms and sneezed. Ryan huffed and nosed Bryce, licking his head before running away after Brian.

“Why do people always think I’m at fault for everything…” Jon mumbled and Lui laughed.

“Maybe you got the ‘bad boy’ looks,” Lui pipped in. Bryce yipped in agreement and Jon just sighed.

They continued on their way until they reached the packhouse. There Brock and Alpha Evan were waiting for them, along with Marcel and his mate Simone. Marcel grinned at him and headed his way immediately.

“Good to see you’re up!” The dark werewolf grinned and Jon couldn’t help but grin back. A growl startled them, making Jon tense up as Evan flashed him his red eyes. He backed away, but that only seemed to make the raven-haired alpha madder. Brock gave Evan a look and the alpha took a deep breath and headed inside grumpily. Jon just sighed in relief.

“I didn’t do anything though…” He muttered, looking up at Marcel to see him just as relieved as Jonathan felt.

“God, I messed up bad…” He heard the other mutter with a confused frown. Lui winced and put his hand on Marcel’s shoulder comfortingly.

“It wasn’t your fault Jon, _Evan_ ,” Brock said loudly, “is just a little tired!” Brock then gave him a comforting smile. “It’s his fault, ignore him.” Jon sighed and put Bryce on the floor.

“Go shower or something, you smell like wet dog.” He smirked at the omega while it huffed at him.

“Well he’s not the only one that smells like that,” Simone said with her nose scrunched. Marcel laughed loudly and Jon gave her an offended look, gasping dramatically.

“I thought you were on _my_ side! What did Marcel _do_ to you?!” Simone blushed while Marcel grinned proudly. Jon made a face. “Nevermind, I don’t wanna know anymore.” The group laughed and Jon rolled his eyes.

Soon, Brock called everyone in to join them for dinner. In the kitchen were Craig and a man that Jon hasn’t seen before, both were arguing quietly about how they were supposed to cook the chicken, which had Jon laughing quietly. Brock handled all of them a set of clothes and told them they had to stop ruining them when shifting and they were going shopping sometime tomorrow. Jon immediately declined, while Ryan and Bryce stayed quiet. Brock insisted.

Once they were all fully clothed and ready, the four werewolves and the now dry werefox headed towards the dining room, where everyone was chatting quietly amongst themselves. Jon sat beside Bryce, who sat next to Ryan at the end of the dining table. He distinctly noticed Evan at the head of the table, staring at him. He tried to give him a small smile but he ended up ducking his head in fear.

He… couldn’t do it…

Then Craig and the strange man entered the dining room with their food, Jon felt his mouth water. He didn’t notice how hungry he was until he saw the food. At least he wasn’t the only one, because Bryce also looked ready to kill for some good food.

Craig noticed their looks and smiled proudly.

“See? They _love_ our cooking.” The other packmates rolled their eyes.

“That’s because they haven’t tasted _our_ cooking yet,” David countered with pride, while Lui rolled his eyes at the other lovingly and patted his mate’s head.

“Psh… Simone’s desserts are the best.” Marcel countered and then everyone began to argue about who’s cooking was the best. Jon was looking around with amusement until he noticed that Evan was looking at him once again.

**_“Different is good, right?”_ **

Evan gave him a small smile and Jon returned a hesitant one, surprised when Evan shook his head (slightly red faced) and proceeded to tell the others to shut up and start eating.

Jon frowned at his food, confused but oddly satisfied as he proceeded to eat his food.

* * *

 

Evan witnessed as Jon settled into the pack’s life without much problems.

The pack treated him like one of them, the same with Ryan and Bryce. It was all new to them, but they quickly adapted to their pack life. It had only been three days and Ryan and Bryce had already settled into their cooking routine and cleaning one. Jon was still pretty skittish around Evan, but they were making some progress.

The distance was driving Evan mad slowly but surely, but it would all be worth it in the end.

Right now, his pack was having a BBQ in the yard. Of course, they didn’t deem the BBQ worthy without some games and then they brought water guns to the BBQ…

Things got really messy.

Lui immediately started to cheat using his water magic and got them all soaked. Evan’s mate—not mate yet but soon to be mate—was having a great time. It was noticeable in his eyes, in the shine they had, the pretty blue was brighter than any other time Evan has seen them. Evan wanted to spend time with the other but he knew the time he stepped near him, the other would stop being himself. He would be on guard and then it wouldn’t be the same.

Evan just wanted to spend some time with him…

Looking at his pack once again, he located his mate spraying Brock with a water gun, a crazed smirk on his face. Brock shouted at him that the hotdogs were going to get all wet. Jonathan just grinned and yelped when Brian came to Brock’s rescue. Jon ran away from the scene, missing the hot kiss Brian gave to Brock. Evan shook his head at the two lovers and focused back on his mate.

 Jon was running stealthily towards Craig, a mischievous air surrounding him as he planned the other’s downfall. Evan shook his head when the beta jumped at the human, attempting to shoot him but the human’s reflexes caused him to dodge away from the water. Jon pouted and then ran away when Craig threatened to ‘soak his ass’.

Evan was laying contently on his chair when a spray of water hit him from behind. He tensed, turning around with a raised brow to see Lui grinning at him cheekily.

“C’mon _Vanoss_ , I know you want to…” Evan blushed and growled at him, embarrassed.

“Don’t call me that!”

“What? You _embarrassed_?” Lui sang as he started to run away from Evan. Evan smirked at the little taunt and stripped off his red jacket to a more comfortable black tank top. He grabbed one of the water guns and followed after Lui swiftly. The rest of his pack noticed the chase and grinned at each other in anticipation. Without a word, Tyler stood up and took a gun too, grinning as he followed Evan. The rest of the pack was quick to join the action.

They worked together to trap Lui. Using their pack link, they managed to seal Lui in a small place. Surrounding the small wizard were Marcel and Brian, followed by Tyler (who had joined the chase along with Evan) and Craig. Nogla didn’t join because he was helping Brock with the food. Evan could practically feel how Ryan, Bryce and Jon assessed them and their team work. He could see the wanting in their eyes, like they wanted to be part of it, and that made him proud.

“Surrender Lui; You’re trapped.” Evan told him dramatically as his pack surrounded the wizard with confident grins. Lui pouted and let his gun fall, raising his arms behind his back.

“Okay officer… But don’t tell Daddy I did it…” He said in a squeaky sad voice that had them all laughing. While they were all distracted, they failed to hear the wizard cast a spell before it was too late. Torrents of water materialized over their heads, falling on them with great force. They all shouted and tried to get away while Lui stayed on the middle of their mini circle with a sharp grin.

“You pups still can’t win against me.” He laughed, watching as his packmates looked at him with narrowed eyes, pouts and glares, their clothes now all so wet they could “ESPRIMIRlas’.  Before Lui could say anything more a water jet hit him straight in the face. He spluttered and coughed, looking around for the one to blame until his eyes landed on a pair of blues. Evan’s eyes widened.

It was Jonathan.

The dark-haired male was standing a little away from their circle and grinning maniacally at Lui.

“Bring it on, witch!” The other shouted with a strong laugh, the rest of the pack laughed along with him, including Evan. Evan met the other’s eyes and grinned at him, heading towards him as the pack dispersed.

“Let’s hide, he’s probably mad.” Jon frowned.

“Why would he be mad?”

“I’m not a witch! I’m a _wizard_! Gosh I’m going to get your furry assess and launch them to the moon!”  Evan saw as Jon paled and ran after him.

Evan ran at a pretty slow pace, wanting the other to keep up with him, but Jon didn’t seem to have a problem with it. They both ran quickly, Jon following after Evan while dodging trees and bushes to get to Evan’s hiding spot.

The problem was that Evan himself didn’t know where he was going.

He was too focused on his mate being so close to him that he could barely focus on his surroundings.

When they passed the same tree for the third time, Jon eyed him weirdly.

“You _do_ know where we’re going to hide right?”

“Pshhh, of course I know!” Just then, Evan noticed a pretty big bush that could probably hide them both. “Right there! Let’s go!” Jon frowned but kept after him.

They got into the bush and quieted down. Evan was sitting before Jonathan nervously, not knowing if he could stop himself from doing something rash again. He had been doing well for the past three days, today was _not_ the day to fuck up. Not when Jonathan was looking pretty okay with him so close. This was improvement, and he was _not_ going to fuck this up—

Just then Jon bit his lip nervously, making Evan freeze.

 _‘Why mate? Why must you tempt me this way? What have I ever done to you?_ ’ He thought with an inner groan, thinking of those sinful lips against his, or maybe around something else—

“Oh Vanoss~!” Lui sang from a distance. Jon and Evan looked at each other for a split second before sprinting away from the bush they were in. Effectively, the bush was then doused in frigid water. That had the two werewolves running a little bit faster. “You can’t run forever!”

“We can and we will!” Jon shouted back at Lui as he kept running. Evan grinned and quickly turned into his wolf form, shredding his clothes. That way they could run faster.

He was disappointed when Jon didn’t shift with him, instead, the beta stopped all together, giving him a nervous look. Evan also stopped, whining low in his throat and turning towards Jon. Jon was glancing back, body tense, as if sensing he didn’t have an escape. Evan tried to keep his disappointment to a minimum, trying not to show it in his wolf form, but he knew that in one’s animal form a wereperson was more expressive.

That said, it wasn’t a great surprise when his animal side had him dropping to his stomach in what could be a playful bow. He saw Jonathan’s confused frown and barked at him playfully in invitation. He waited patiently as Jon hesitated, looking around carefully as if someone would come out saying “It’s a prank bro!”.

When no one came out, Jon started to take his clothes off carefully. Evan felt his tail wag at the indication and he tried not to eye the other man too much. The raven-haired beta would probably think he was a creep and leave him. _Again_.

Jon shifted to his wolf form, blue eyes staring at Evan in slight fear as Evan neared him happily. He nuzzled the other’s neck, feeling the other tense up at the action. Evan quickly backed away, barking at the other sharply so he would follow. Evan started to run, feeling and hearing Jon follow him through the forest.

He quickly sent a picture of him and Jon running to the other pack members through their pack link, feeling proud and smug that he could finally be near his mate after _so long_. While in his thoughts of greatness, he didn’t hear Jon’s sharp bark before he passed him. Evan blinked, watching the smaller black and white wolf run in front of him before grinning to himself inwardly.

Evan picked up his speed until he was running beside Jonathan. Jonathan gave him a wolfish grin before pushing harder, Evan followed suit. They didn’t notice how long they’ve been racing or how far they’ve gone. They just focused on each other, on the trees, on the ground, on the animals that ran their way, on the rocks they had to evade.

It was just them bonding, and it was perfection.

Evan saw Jonathan slow down, panting harshly and starting to jog instead of running mindlessly around. Evan slowed down next to him, panting too but not as harsh as the other wolf was. Jon had slowed down to a walk, before stopping completely and falling on the ground to rest. The other wolf looked at him pleadingly and Evan huffed, rolling his eyes at the other’s drama. He sat down, letting the other rest like he wanted. Jon barked happily in thanks, nearing Evan to nuzzle him before collapsing on the ground with a groan.

Evan was surprised by the actions but shook his head at the other’s antics. He couldn’t let Jon’s actions get to his head, the other was just obviously grateful that they could rest. Instead, Evan looked around, trying to figure out where in hell they were.

This definitely wasn’t his territory, he immediately noticed. He couldn’t smell any of the other’s scents and he couldn’t see Lui’s runes craved on the trees. True, not all the trees had runes craved on them, but if they didn’t have runes they had claw marks (because _Tyler_ ) and these looked immaculate…

He stood up, a small growl ripping from his throat because he and his mate where in unknown territory and that wasn’t good at all. _Danger_.  Jon tilted his head at him, but Evan barely noticed it. The alpha motioned at Jon to stand up, poking his side with his snout before starting to head away. Jon yelped after him, standing up and walking quickly behind.

Jon followed quietly, noticing how tense Evan was and saying nothing about it. Evan could tell the other was nervous but he was holding it in. Evan was grateful for it.

He started to head back the way they came, silently threading the place and trying not to make too much noise. He was surprised at how stealthy Jon could be when he wanted to. Not only could his mate be strong and fast, but also stealthy. Evan was proud.

Jon’s sharp bark broke his out of his musings, he looked back to see a small brown she-wolf coming their way. A snarl came from Jon but Evan stopped him by nipping at his ears. Jonathan yelped in surprise, eyeing him as if he was crazy. Evan waited for the wolf to come their way and stood still, looking down at the brown wolf as Jon growled once again at it. Evan huffed and gave Jon a look.

_‘Stop.’_

Jon sat down, glowering at the floor as if he were a child having a temper tantrum. Evan huffed and focused once again on the wolf before him. She was looking at him intently, her pretty red eyes flashing at him hesitantly. A show of power.  Evan flashed his red eyes back, but he laid on the ground, trying to make himself not threatening. They were, after all, in this wolf’s territory. They had invaded without meaning to, so the least Evan could do was give her the respect and apologies she deserved.

The she wolf huffed and turned back to her human form. She was naked, with a sculptor’s body (mush like all the she-wolves) and with a shy aura around her. She looked almost ashamed as she tried to cover her dignity. Evan narrowed his eyes, he _knew_ this girl.

She was part of the feral alpha’s pack.

She gave a sheepish smile.

“Hello, Alpha Evan…” Evan quickly shifted to his human form, still towering over the smaller female.

“Hi… Look, I’m sorry we wondered into your territory.” He smiled at her apologetically.

“It’s okay! I mean, we kind of did the same not so many days ago.” She smiled at him. Evan wondered how could she be so happy when she recently lost her alpha. “I’ll show you to your territory, Alpha Evan. As you know, forests can be tricky.” She started to walk away, Evan following after her with Jon at his side.

Evan focused on the black wolf at his side and inwardly grinned. The wolf was tense, glaring at the female before him and there was a distinctive rumbling in his chest, as if he was barely containing his growls. Evan patted his head to comfort him, but Jon almost bit his hand off if it weren’t for Evan’s reflexes. He raised his brow at Jon but the other werewolf looked down in shame.

“I know you’re nervous, and I’m not mad, but you don’t have to worry about it okay? Just… relax.” Evan whispered at Jon, patting his head once again. Happy that this time Jon just continued to walk without almost eating his hand.

Evan followed the woman, Kris, she said her name was, for a few minutes, looking around curiously at the similarities it had with his own territory. Jon was sniffing cautiously, keeping an eye out in case something happened. Evan rolled his eyes at the other’s paranoia.

And then something _did_ happen.

Evan had been chatting with Kris when, out of nowhere, a huge wolf came out of the mass of trees. The huge dark brown wolf took one sole look on them and attacked Evan. Evan didn’t have the time to react, but Jon quickly sprang into action. Crashing into the other wolf, the two beasts snarled against each other, fighting for dominance as they bit and scratched and broke skin.

Evan could only watch as his mate jumped in to protect him, feeling the swell of his heart as the moment keep replaying in his mind. Maybe his mate _did_ feel something for him…

“Minx! Stop it!” Kris shouted, looking between the two fighting wolves in panic. Evan saw as the dark brown wolf grabbed Jon by the scruff of his neck and threw him few feet away. Evan let out a snarl of his own, eyes flashing a violent red as he shifted and stood before the other wolf. The other snarled back at him, eyes flashing red too and then Evan understood.

This was Kris’s mate. That meant the wolf thought they were threatening her in some way. He internally winced. This was obviously a recently mated pair, which explained the whole ‘IM GONNA KILL YOU’ vibe the other wolf was giving off. 

“Minx! I was just helping them! They were lost!” Kris glared at the other wolf, Minx, with an annoyed stare. The big wolf stopped growling at Evan, looking at Kris with a slight whine. The girl headed towards Minx’s side and started to hush her and pet her to calm her down.

Evan huffed at the two and started to head towards Jon, who was back in his human form, groaning in the floor. Evan neared him quickly, examining him and growling at the blood on his back and the back of his neck. His mate was surely a magnet for trouble huh…

“Ouch… fucking bitch…” Jonathan groaned, which Minx heard, for the other wolf (another female alpha wolf, Evan noted with interest) snarled at him ferociously before being hushed by Kris once again. Evan nosed Jon to stand up, and the male muttered some more curses under his breath before standing up with Evan’s help. With Jon up, the two duos eyed each other differently. While Jon was looking at Minx with a murderous glare, which Minx returned whole heartedly, Evan was looking at Jon worriedly and Kris was looking at the other two sheepishly.

“I’m so so sorry! Minx is just protective! After all that’s happened I wouldn’t blame her really it’s understandable but—Gosh I’m rambling I’m sorry!” Kris almost shouted with a slight blush dusting her cheeks. Minx gave her a lick and huffed. “Of _course_ they deserve an apology! You attacked them out of nowhere!”

“Damn right she did…” Jon muttered, making Evan shook his head and slightly pushed Jon in warning. Minx gave Jon a glare but then huffed, walking away from the two and trying to drag Kris with her. Kris gave the two males an apologetic glance.

“I’m sorry guys. If you continue this trail you should be able to get to your territory without further problems, Alpha Evan.” And with that, the couple left (even though Kris was technically dragged by Minx).

Jon mumbled under his breath as he started to stumbled towards the trail Kris told them about. Evan quickly followed him, in case his mate needed assistance of some sort. He nosed the other for attention, and Jon gave him a raised brow.

“What do you want?” Jon asked him, not harshly, but curiously. Evan sighed, staring at him intently, trying to convey his feelings. Jon stared back for a few minutes before sigh. “You want to help me, don’t you?” Evan yipped at him happily, tail wagging unconsciously. It worked! “I’m sorry alpha, but I can deal with it. It’s not the first time or the last one that someone kicks my ass.” He chuckled and continued to walk painfully along the trail.

Evan followed his mate up close, keeping an eye out in case another wolf decided to come out at them.

It wasn’t long before they were back in their territory. Lui’s magic was buzzling in the air, calming Evan immediately. Jon noticed his sudden relaxation and smiled at him softly.

The hand on Evan’s head shook his fur playfully, startling Evan. Evan lick his hand and nuzzled against the other male.

This was the closer he had been to his mate, and he was not ready to go back yet.

* * *

 

Ryan looked around, trying to locate his playful fox in the midst of this chaos.

The pack was eating together, wondering where Evan and Jon went. They were wearing smirks though, so they weren’t too worried about what those two were doing. Ryan couldn’t be bothered by their affairs. He knew Jon was too focused on being surrounded by the pack to pay any kind of attention to the alpha’s affections. Hell, even a blind person could see how obvious Evan was. It was _ridiculous_ how oblivious Jon could be.

Maybe this was it, maybe they’ll finally get together. They would make a cute couple, Ryan had to admit, not as cute as the witch and the direwolf, but cute enough.

A body tackled his own from behind, making him tense up in anticipation of an attack before the smell of vanilla ( **VANILA BRYCE BRYCE BBY!** ) hit him, making him relax under it. He hummed as the omega hugged him closer, hiding his face in between his neck. It was hilarious how the omega wolf was taller than him, but Ryan didn’t mind. He knew of smaller animals that could do more harm than Bryce. The werefox, even if he was mischievous as hell, wouldn’t hurt a single soul.

“I wonder if I can get more food…” Bryce wondered out loud, making Ryan raised a brow at him in amusement.

“Didn’t you just eat, Brycey?” he asked teasingly, the other blushed and pouted at him.

“One doesn’t say no to free food, okay?” Bryce huffed and Ryan understood. Bryce didn’t get to eat as properly before, only the wastes of his former pack. And it hurt Ryan deeply how much that has scarred Bryce, who was such a gentle soul by nature and an amazing being.

“Why don’t you ask Brock then? I’m sure he’ll give you some.” Bryce had taken to the human greatly. It was unbelievable how close the two had gotten in such a short time, to the point where Bryce spent more time with Brock than with Ryan, but that didn’t bother him much. It would have bothered him a lot if Brock was unmated, just like Bryce, but Brock had a mate and they both were happy with each other. So Ryan didn’t feel bad that Bryce was spending time with Brock. Bryce needed it, so Ryan was happy for the help.

“Imma do that!” Bryce said happily, skipping away from Ryan towards Brock. Brian saw the omega and pushed him away playfully. Ryan saw as Bryce bared his teeth at Brian before feigning hurt at Brock, who scolded Brian for pushing Bryce too hard. Brian gaped at Bryce, who proceeded to ask innocently Brock for food while flipping the bird at Brian behind his back. Ryan grinned at the omega, he was definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“Hello!”

The sudden greeting startled Ryan, who jumped and turned around, finding the small wizard standing before him. The dark-haired wizard gave him a grin and sat beside him, Ryan eyed him suspiciously.

“Yes?”

“Okay I’ll be straight with you,” Lui said, face turning serious. Ryan froze at the sudden shift in the atmosphere and seriously eyed the shorter male. “We want to take you guys in.”

Ryan froze, looking back at Bryce who was happily munching on some hamburger Brock had given him, and then at the man before him. He narrowed his eyes.

“Why?” He spat through gritted teeth. He knew why most people would want Bryce. The kid was a male omega, a werefox to top it all. If you sold him out to a hunter agency, you would live the rest of your days bathing in wealth. To say Ryan was suspicious was an understatement. He didn’t know this pack. They could seem nice and all, but one didn’t know what lied beneath until it was too late. “So you guys can betray him? _Abuse_ him?” Lui smiled thinly.

“Well, Brock seems to like you both and the fact that Brian, who never trusts anyone, has gotten attached to you guys it’s a good sign.” Lui smiled at the mentioned werewolf, who was trying to steal Bryce’s hamburger until Brock caught him and hit him with a cold spatula. Nevertheless, Brian yelped and gave his lover an offended look. “Plus, the kid needs it.” The next words were so soft that Ryan almost didn’t hear them. He looked at Lui who was staring at Bryce with a soft look in his eyes, suddenly he looked so much older, _wiser_. It made Ryan wonder how _old_ the wizard was. Because right now, at this moment, Lui looked extremely old and tired. “He’s been through _so_ _much_ …”

“…We’ll think about it…” Ryan muttered. This pack was _strong_ , that meant they could probably protect Bryce if everything went to shit. That is, if they didn’t betray them. But this time, Ryan wouldn’t let things get too far, Ryan would kill to protect Bryce—Or die trying. Lui smiled at him, going back to his childish self as Bryce made his way back to Ryan.

“I’m sure you will.”

“Evan, what happened?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is that _blood_?!”

The alarmed shout snapped Ryan and Lui to reality.

They saw Evan, in his black furry body, helping an injured Jonathan into their BBQ place. Brock immediately left the grill to tend to the injured werewolf, who wasn’t looking that bad if Ryan had to be honest. Sure, he had some injuries on his back and scratch marks on his chest but he _could_ look worse. The injuries weren’t life threatening in any way.

“I’m fine…” Jon grumbled, an annoyed look crossing his face. Evan huffed a laugh and Jon glared at him. Ryan raised a brow. OK, these two haven’t mated ( _yet_ ) but they were surely getting along better. “ _You_ … Shutch up.”

“S-Shutch up…” Craig struggled to keep in his sniggers, failing miserably. Marcel openly laughed at the werewolf and soon the teasing started.

Ryan grinned at the creativity of some of the pack’s members, most of them teasing the poor Jonathan while Evan laid down before the annoyed werewolf. Evan was obviously happy with the sudden proximity to the raven-haired boy, tail wagging slightly as he looked at his pack with happy eyes.

Bryce sat next to Ryan, smiling at his charmingly. Ryan raised a brow and asked him,

“What are you smiling about?” Bryce’s eyes shined mischievously as his smiled turned into a sly grin.

“Nothing~” Ryan eyed the younger male suspiciously before looking back at Evan and Jonathan. Jonathan was being bandaged by Brock after putting on some pants and Evan was walking away (probably to the packhouse to get some clothes too). Ryan saw Jon make a move to follow Evan before slumping into his seat, a confused look crossing his face. Ryan sighed at how ridiculous they were. Jonathan was too oblivious to his feelings and seriously Evan had to man up and—

A splash of water pulled him out of his thoughts. He coughed the water out of his nose as he tried to locate the attacker. Of course, Bryce was running away, laughing. Ryan growled playfully following after him in a sprint.

“Bryce! You’ll pay for that!”

“You gotta catch me first!”

_‘Oh, it’s on.’_

* * *

 

A few days after the BBQ, two days before Bryce’s testimony on the trial, Evan made a move on his mate.

“Hey Jon,” Evan started smoothly, watching as Jonathan paused the game to give him a raised brow. After a few gaming sessions (that were pretty much common in the pack), Evan and Jon had started to feel more at ease in each other’s presence. Jon stopped looking so jumpy around Evan while Evan started to feel like he might jump him at any second. It was irritating how calm Jon could be when Evan was conscious of every little movement the other male made.

It was sweet insanity, and everyone knew Evan had a sweet tooth.

Back to their current situation, Evan was lost once again in those ocean blues when Jon sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, sorry.” Evan chuckled nervously, watching a smirk appear slowly on Jon’s face. _‘God he will be the death of me…’_ “A-Anyways, I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the movies with us?” Evan had already invited Craig and Tyler, along with Brock and Brian. Lui, Marcel and Simone were working today and David was taking Ryan and Bryce to get some of the paperwork done for the court.

Jon hummed.

“Suuuure.”

“Okay, we’ll leave at… 12pm I think… Around that.” Craig wanted to by some stuff first and Evan also wanted to kind of have some alone moments with Jon. If Craig’s sexcapade to the mall was the way to get his free time with Jon, then he will take it.

Evan nodded at Jon with a grin and left to get ready. He had to shave and wash his hair and pick some nice clothes but not too nice, casually nice…

Damn, he had it bad.

 Evan quickly did his business: He shaved, bathed, washed his hair, bathed once again and checked his face for any hairs left. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he left his bathroom to pick up some nice clothes. This was the hardest part. He had to look good, but not extravagantly good. He wanted his mate to eye him, to want him, to drool for him…

But he also didn’t want his mate to think he was a show off.

After thinking for a while Evan decided to go for a simple black v-shirt and some ripped jeans. He slipped on his vans and checked his phone to see what time it was.

_12:15._

_…Shit…_

He quickly grabbed his wallet and ran down the “Stairs of hell” like Jon liked to call them. Why, Evan didn’t know. He reached the living room to see five pairs of eyes looking in annoyance or exasperation. Evan chuckled awkwardly.

“We leave at 12,” Craig mimicked Evan. The others laughed and started to get up to the cars. Evan glared at him.

“Why didn’t any of you tell me it was this late?”

“And interrupt your beauty sleep? No way!” Tyler laughed loudly. Jon sniggered and Evan finally took notice of his mate’s appearance. Jon was wearing a dark-blue v-shirt that fitted him nicely along with black jeans and converses. Those black jeans also fitted him nicely, accenting his strong tights and calves and that butt that Evan has seen a lot of times but he could never get enough.

_‘Damn, it seems like I’m the one that will be drooling this whole ride…’_

As Evan dreamed about his mate’s appearance, they divided into two groups. Craig, Tyler, Evan and Jonathan went into Craig’s car (a black Mercedes) while Brock and Brian got on Brock’s motorcycle. Giving them a cheeky salute, Brock put on his helmet and speeded out of the forest. Craig grumbled at that and started up his car, going after them.

The path was rocky and they had to dodge a few animals around the place along with some trees, but it wasn’t long before they reached a pretty smooth trail. Evan watched as Jon glanced around curiously and he remembered that he had probably never seen this path.

“This is the path we usually take when we go to the city or to work,” Evan explained. Jon frowned at the words, nose wrinkling slightly.

“Work?” Evan laughed.

“But of course! All of us work! Tyler is actually a policeman.” Craig huffed.

“He’s just a security guard, policeman is too important for him.” Tyler gave Craig the stinky eye and Jonathan eyed Tyler with wide eyes.

“You’re like the supernatural’s Night at the Museum guard.” Evan laughed at that, and even Tyler snorted at that. Craig grinned at Jon.

“Damn right boi,” He said. Jon chuckled lowly before focusing back outside. Evan sighed and just tried to discreetly stare at Jonathan without being seen for the rest of their ride.

Craig and Tyler got into a pretty normal conversation (they were talking about work), Jon being pulled by the normal topic (he had apparently worked at a fucked up pizzeria that had closed when some children went missing). Evan remained silent, just listening to his pack talk among themselves. It soothed his nerves a little.

He closed his eyes with a content sigh.

* * *

 

“Evan? Evan…” Evan groaned, looking around with a frown. Craig and Tyler were gone, now it was just the pretty blue and him.

“Morning Jon…” Evan muttered. Jonathan laughed.

“You fell asleep in the car! It’s not morning dumbass! Let’s go quickly, the others already went ahead…” Jon started to leave the car, making Evan grumble. If it had been another packmate calling him dumbass he would’ve snapped at them. Only Jon could treat him like shit and get away with it.

“I just wanted to sleep a little bit…” He whined, going out the car too and following Jon around the parking lot and towards the mall. People stared their way (mostly females), but Evan ignored them all, merely focusing on Jon and his sharp grin.

“Well, you already did bitch. Now let’s go!”

Without much excuses, Jon dragged him around the place, going from store to store and looking at random things before focusing on another completely different item. It was crazy, the objects that would catch the other’s attention.

“Teddy bear!” The shout made Evan smile. Jon had found a teddy bear in one of the stores. It wasn’t even that pretty, in Evan’s opinion. It had weird eyes, the ears looked crooked, the paws were all wrong, but for some reason, Jonathan seemed to love the small plushy.

“Wanna give that teddy bear a home?” Jon glanced back at him, as if remembering he wasn’t alone. He tensed, blushed slightly and set the bear back down, shaking his head. Evan frowned. _‘Was he embarrassed?’_

“I… It’s nothing, let’s go.” Jon started to leave the place quickly, making Evan sprint after him in order to catch up. He snapped a picture of the small bear before leaving though, in case he could buy it later for his mate or something.

He managed to find Jon in front of the movie theatre, looking around lost. Evan joined his side, frowning at him curiously. Jon met his eyes for a second before looking away quickly. _Oh?_

“Where are the others?” Jon asked Evan quietly and Evan frowned, noticing now, too, the absence of the other guys. He frowned, sending an image to his packmates. It was a rather cute image in his opinion, of Jon standing before the theatre’s entrance with a confused frown.

“I don’t know… I asked them, let’s—” Before he could say another word, he received a very inappropriate image of Craig and Tyler in a bathroom. He shuddered. “Nevermind, let’s just say Tyler and Craig are out of movie time.”

“Are they…?” Jon asked with a grimace. Evan nodded. Jon made a face before bursting out laughing. “Your pack is hilarious man…”

“ _Our_ pack.” Evan corrected him, making Jon freeze. He winced inwardly, but waited for Jon’s response. His mate was staring at him with wide eyes, blue eyes shining beautifully, black hair ruffled, skin slightly flush, clothes hugging his lithe but strong figure.

_‘Damn he’s beautiful...’_

“I…I don’t… What…” Evan smiled at him softly, nearing him and squeezing his shoulder lightly.

“You don’t have to agree to it now, Jonathan. Just… think about it okay?” Jon opened his mouth to say something more but closed it abruptly. He stared at Evan with his sharp blues, something soft settling in them, before nodding hesitantly. Evan felt the beta relax under his touch, and grinned inwardly.

Then Evan’s phone rang, startling them. Jon chuckled at their own silliness while Evan glared at the object for interrupting their moment. _‘It better be important…_ ’ he grumbled as he fished his phone.

“What,” he said, sulking through the phone. He heard Brock chuckle and Brian shout something about “you owe us one”.

“Sup, Evan!” Brock said cheerfully. Evan narrowed his eyes suspiciously, making Jon raise a brow at him in confusion. He knew he was confusing his mate, but Brock was being too cheerful here. “So… David left some of the paperwork that Bryce needed at our house, he called me and we’re on our way to pick them up and take deliver them.” Evan grumbled.

“Of _course_ he forgot…”

“Yeah… anyways, we hope you both have _a good time_ _watching the movie_.” And something clicked for Evan as Brock accentuated each word. He was going to be with Jonathan.  _Alone_. His friends, his pack, had set him up.

Of _course_.

(Not that he was complaining)

“Thanks Brock…” Evan said dryly, but he could feel the blood rushing to his face. God, he felt like such a teenager. He hung up on Brock and Jon gave him a frown.

“They bailed?” He asked, quietly.

“Yeah…” Evan could tell that Jonathan was slightly sad at that. He knew Jonathan never had a pack, and the other male enjoyed being around Evan’s pack a lot. His whole demeanor would change and he would joke around and jest. It was cute, how his mate could be two different people at the same time.

“Should we leave?” Jonathan asked quietly, making Evan quickly shake his head. _Nononononono he needed to spend some time with Jon, that way Jon would trust him more and maybe they’ll mate later and have a family—_

Ok, _way_ too fast there Evan.

“No, don’t worry. We’ll just go without them.” Evan shrugged and casted his most charming grin. Jon smiled slightly at this and nodded.

“God, it’s been so long since I went to the movies…” Jonathan groaned, and Evan chuckled.

“I bet you scream a lot.” Evan teased, making Jonathan glare at him, a slight blush dusting his neck and ears.

“I do not!”

“Wanna bet?”

“Oh, you’re on bitch!”

* * *

 

Jonathan was having the best time ever.

Ever since he had met Evan’s pack, his life had turned around for the better. He made some friends, maybe even a pack, he had great times, he wasn’t being judged for being a rogue, he didn’t have to fight anyone… it was awesome. Jon loved it. He didn’t have to build walls around his personality; he could be _himself_ …

Most of the times anyways.

Sometimes, when he was with Evan, he couldn’t help lifting the barriers between the young alpha and himself. The raven haired alpha had a certain pressure around him that made Jon’s heart beat a lot faster and made his squirm and Lui told him that it was because of him being an alpha but _hell_. It was hard to ignore the brown narrowed stare, the subtle touches, the tension that the other male always carried… He was like a dangerously sharp coiled spring that was about to snap. Jon feared that Evan might snap at him at some point, that he will be fed up with having a complete stranger under his turf, a rogue that could kill some of his pack members…

So he played the clown.

He relaxed his body, laughed at the alpha, joked with him, played with him. That seemed to put the alpha at ease, the other male would relax. It was as if the alpha understood that he wasn’t a threat to him or to his pack.  In return, to Jon’s surprise, Evan started to tease him, search him out, help him up, play with him…

It was all really confusing.

His body was sending mixed signals at him and he did not appreciate it. While one side, his wolfish side, screamed at him _pack, friends, family, safe_ ; his most rational side, his human side, whispered darks _but_ _what if it’s all an act?, What if they use you?, what if you fuck up (you always do), people don’t do charity without wanting something in return, wait for this to bite you in the ass…_

  _(MY MIND’S TELLING ME NO… BUT MY BODYYY… MY BODDYYYYYYY IS TELLING ME YEEEE— Jon didn’t like that he made fun of that song before, now every time the guys joked about it he was forced to remember the harsh truth about the song and how it applied to his current situation.)_

Jon didn’t appreciate it.

Right now, for an instance, his wolf was purring softly at the quality time it was having with the alpha. Evan was sitting beside him, a big bag of popcorn in his lap _(‘To share’_ ), a focused look on his face as he watched the movie. Jon was forced to stare between Evan and the movie, occasionally startled by the sudden jumpscare the movie had (He had laughed so hard afterwards that he was hushed by half the people in the theater room) or every time Evan moved to grab some popcorn. Evan would wince and stop eating popcorn before starting once again (probably subconsciously).

Then there was his human side whispering at him: _Don’t eat popcorn, he paid for it, don’t deserve to be here with him, is he going to kill me afterwards?, is that why the other left? Is that why he’s so shifty and squirmy today?._

To tell the truth, Evan was being weirder than usual.

Don’t get him wrong, Evan was always weird, but today he was being weird^2, which was… _pretty_ weird. He had noticed how the other male had stared at him all day, like he couldn’t keep his eyes off him. And Jon understood, this was the first time he went out to the public (to the humans) in a while, but he wasn’t a rabid dog. He wasn’t going to snap at anyone…

Evan had him on a tight leash, it seemed. And Jon, also, didn’t appreciate that. But he ignored it, for his own sake.

He just had to be the clown everyone loves and likes.

The movie went on for about two hours, it was a typical zombie movie where they got infected, people survived, they fought for safe houses, they settled in a place, they killed zombies, yadda yadda yadda… It wasn’t all that good, but Evan seemed to enjoy it. or at least that looked like, since the young alpha was practically shinning with a bright aura, happiness flowing out of him in waves. Jon stared, dumbfound. Evan was always so _tense_ , it was just so weird seeing him so relaxed.

“You liked the movie that much?” He asked with a teasing note, knowing this will probably make Evan guard himself again but incapable of holding back his comment. Evan grinned back at him, throwing away the last few popcorns left in the bag along with their sodas in a trash can.

“I liked the company more.”

They suddenly froze at the same time, staring at each other with wide eyes. Jon was waiting for Evan to take his words back or joke about it, while Evan seemed to wait for Jon to _do something_ and that made Jonathan conscious about the fact that he didn’t know Evan that much. Sure, he knew how the other played, and teased and acted, but apart from that… pretty much nothing.

“…No homo?” A part of Jon was relieved by the stupid joke, the other part not so much. He decided to play along. He laughed, it was fake of course.

“Half you pack is homo.” Evan huffed a laugh, though it too seemed forced.

“My _entire_ pack is homo.” He corrected. Jon shrugged and continued to get out of the theatre. Evan followed him but it was obvious that the alpha was in deep thought, a tense silence overcoming the two of them. Evan was frowning all the way, biting his lip and Jon had to tear his eyes away before he got even more confused.

Evan was one sexy motherfucker. A scary sexy mofo. Which kind of sucked but Jon would take a scary _sexy_ motherfucker over a normal motherfucker every day.

Wait what?

Jon stopped walking when they reached an arcade. It was filled with old slot machines and the like, along with a few tables to play other games (card games and pool seemed to be the favorite). He eyed the small place, wondering if he could sneak into the place with the pack some time. He was certain that Bryce and Ryan would like it. Maybe Marcel and Tyler would engage into a heated match and end up raging against each other. David and Lui would play a coop game and kick ass, breaking the machine’s record…

Jonathan froze, realizing something. Shit he was already too far in this pack to leave now… He already thought of them as family… There’s no way he was going to say no to Evan when they time came and he asked if Jon wanted to join the pack… But to tell the truth, Jonathan didn’t have many options here. He was a rogue, if anything, Jonathan was doing him a huge favor of accepting him into his pack.

A hard body knocked into him from behind, making him stumble to catch himself and turn back to glare at the offender. Evan blinked at him, apparently too deep in thought to realize that Jon had stopped. Jon sighed, while Evan chuckled.

“Sorry man.” Evan apologized, before noticing the arcade before them. His eyes lit up. “Oh Jon! Let’s go there!” Before Jonathan could argue that, _no they had to look for Craig and Tyler,_ Evan dragged his ass towards the small place. Jon groaned and whined at Evan loudly, but he shut up when he noticed that there was a machine with lots of plushies inside.

‘ _Teddy_!’ His mind screamed and he started to walk more willingly with Evan.

While Evan stopped to change some of the money for tokens, Jon started towards the claw machine. The stuffed toys stuck inside it all smiled happily at him, but his attention was on the blue teddy bear near the back of the box. ‘I’ll save you Teddy!’ He thought with grim determination.

Evan came back with a bunch of tokens in hand and a huge grin on his face.

“Come on, Let’s go to the racing cars first.” Evan took Jon’s arm, making him tense slightly before a warm feeling settled on him. Evan always had him on edge. Jon nodded, looking one last time at the blue teddy with promise, before following after Evan.

They played in all the machines, be it racing, shooters, Pac Man… everything this place had, they played. Jon was having a great time, even when Evan was kicking his ass in most games. Jon understood that Evan was an alpha and all (he had to look dominant and strong), but that didn’t mean he had to destroy Jonathan in almost all the games they played. Jonathan left with a childish pout while Evan grinned at him sheepishly.

When they were about to leave, Jon remembered the blue teddy bear in the claw machine. Jonathan backtracked and looked at the teddy bear once again, turning towards Evan (who was exchanging some tickets for prizes), and turning back towards the teddy bear. Jon quickly made up his mind, leaving Evan’s side quietly and going to the machine. He stared at the teddy with determination, blue eyes sharpening dangerously as he inserted a dollar (thank god the machine accepted both tokens and cash) in the slot. He gripped the handle and smirked.

“Just you wait, Teddy.”

* * *

 

Evan didn’t like to choose.

Right now, he had around a thousand points to get some prizes from what they had won. It wasn’t much, but at least they had fun. He could tell that Jonathan was a little mad at him for winning most of the times but Evan couldn’t help it. He had to appear strong to Jonathan if he wanted to court the other werewolf. Even in a stupid game, which Evan found ridiculous. He had cursed his wolfish instincts a million times today.

Staring at the big wall filled with different prizes in front of him, Evan groaned.

“So… you want anything Jon?” He half expected Jon to hiss at him angrily, the other was pretty salty, but he only received silence. Evan turned with a frown, thinking that maybe Jonathan was ignoring him, but his mate wasn’t there. Evan blinked. “Jon?” He called, looking around the place before locating his packmate.

He motioned at the ticket person to wait a second before walking towards the distracted werewolf. The other male was cursing at the toy machine before him. The claw had, apparently, fallen near the stuffed toy the raven-haired male wanted, but not in the right angle. Evan chuckled inwardly at the other’s growl.

“Dam’ thing of hell…” The other growled as he inserted another dollar in the slot, feeding the machine with anger.

“You know, this is a family friendly place. You shouldn’t curse.” Evan admonished, making Jon jump in the air, turning towards him with an angry scowl.

“I don’t care.” The other said bluntly, making Evan laugh. Jon ignored him and focused on the claw that hovered over the toys. He started to move it until it was standing atop of a blue teddy bear. Evan opened his mouth to asked him why the obsession with the teddy bears, but he was afraid Jonathan would get defensive again. So, he snapped his mouth shut and watched as Jonathan failed, once again, in capturing the Teddy bear.

“Arghhh!” Jon screamed, startling the people in the place, including Evan. Evan shot him a warning look, Jon couldn’t lose control here, not over some stupid machine. Jonathan gave him a wide eyes disbelief look. “This thing is witched Evan, I swear.” Evan laughed at the words, forgetting his worries momentarily and shaking his head in amusement.

“Lemme try it?” Jon silently stepped aside, giving Evan a dollar to put in the machine. Evan focused on the claw in front of him, making it move until it stopped on top of the blue teddy bear. He hit the button, dropping the claw. It closed around the teddy bear, and they both held their breaths. When it seemed like it was going to haul up the bear, the grip slipped, the claw going up empty. Evan gapped at the thing. He was _sure_ he had it…

“One more try.” Evan found himself saying, and he could see Jon nodding at him seriously. Jon took one side of the machine, motioning at him to stop or to move the claw in the other direction. It was some serious teamwork, what they were doing, but even that couldn’t win against the cursed toy machine. When the claw failed to retrieve the bear once again, Evan hit the machine angrily, denting it a little. Jon hissed at him to calm down, but the beta was also radiating anger in waves.

This… was a dangerous game…

“Let’s just leave…” Jon muttered, glaring at the machine. Evan frowned, about to argue that ‘they could do this’, ‘just give him one more try’, but Jon shot him a look. “We can just get something in the prize corner…”

“There’s no teddy bears there though.” Evan pointed out, noticing that Jon suddenly tensed. Evan cursed himself inwardly, but stared at Jon expectantly. Jon blushed slightly.

“…So… y-you know it’s because of the teddy bears…” Jon muttered, making Evan smile.

“It was kind of obvious, man.”

“You won’t make fun of me?” Jon asked shyly, making Evan laugh loudly.

“That’s why you were worried? Are you serious? Who cares if you like Teddy Bears or Hello Kitty or whatever you like! I’m pretty sure Brian has an unhealthy obsession with David Beckham.” The other beta was surely obsessed with the football player, it was _ridiculous_. He had all his shoes, every one of them, the new ones and the old ones. And Evan was positive that the other beta had a couple of posters hidden somewhere in the house. They had a bet about who was going to find them first, but Brian had a knack for hiding things.

Jon chuckled, giving Evan the most softest and beautiful smile that Evan has seen in his entire life.

“Thank you Evan… for… for everything.” Evan smiled back, slinging an arm around Jon’s shoulders. He was pleasantly surprised when Jon didn’t tense under his touch.

“No problem, Jon…”

“Evan, I…” Jon started, making Evan look at him curiously. The other werewolf was staring tensely at his feet, an uncertain frown on his face. “If-If that offer is still up-”

“What offer?” Evan asked as they both walked towards the prize corner, where the person at the counter was giving them the stinky eye, his hands full of Evan’s tickets. Evan smiled sheepishly at them.

“T-The pack one…” Jon whispered, not wanting to attract attention. Evan looked at him in surprise, staring at Jon’s determined blues with his own browns. “I want in. I want to be part of you guys.” Evan couldn’t help the immense happiness that filled him suddenly. A grin split his face and he hugged the other male tightly, nuzzling his neck and inhaling his strong scent.

“I can’t express how happy I am…” Evan said without thinking. He felt Jon’s arms circle around him, holding just as tightly as the raven-haired male rested his head on Evan’s shoulder, nuzzling him.

But then again, that could’ve just been Evan’s imagination.  

“Neither can I.” The other sighed.

“Um… sirs? Your-Your tickets…?”

* * *

 

Brian was tired.

While today’s mission (Get Evan and Jon to spend some time together) was successful, Brian was feeling rather exhausted. He and Brock had to take some of Bryce’s papers to Nogla since his stupid Irish head had forgotten about them. After taking the papers to the forgetful werewolf, Bryce needed to get himself checked by a Pack Law’s doctor. The exam had to be private, only the jury, the doctor, two witnesses (from Pack Law of course) and Bryce were allowed in the room. Ryan had, of course, flipped his shit and Brian had to take the other beta outside to calm him down.

After that, things had calmed down a little.

The procedure was quick; Bryce was accepted as a witness against his old alpha’s trial after they had taken his testimony. The omega was unusually silent and had a blank look on his face. Ryan was beside him all the time, holding his hand with care while he whispered sweet reassurances and encouraging words into the other’s ears.

And now back home, Brian had to clean up the second floor with Brock.

They finished fairly quickly, since the second floor was mainly made of bedrooms and they had a silent agreement that they wouldn’t go into the other’s rooms. Brian and Brock made small talk while cleaning, talking about their day and, more importantly, about their alpha.

“Do you think Evan finally made his move?” Brock asked, and Brian had to scoff at that.

“Evan? Canadian, socially awkward, hotstuff-with-low-esteem, head-over-heels-for-Jon, Evan? Nah.” Brock chuckled at that and Brian couldn’t help but grin. Brian was a pretty straight forwards person, always doing things on impulse or with determination and strength. He couldn’t understand how Evan was dealing so well with having his mate so close but _so far away._ If it had been Brian, he would’ve gone mad long ago.

It had been bad enough when he had found Brock, who had a pack’s scent all over him, but didn’t know he belonged to a pack. Brian had scared the living shit out of Brock at that time, displaying his beta attributes (his eyes and his fangs) while Brock ran for his life thinking Brian was possessed or a zombie. Of course, Brian followed because, hey, you just don’t give a wolf a reason to _chase_ after its prey ( _and Brock’s ass was all the motivation Brian needed_ ). His wolfish side had taken over and he had followed Brock around campus (because they were in the fucking university), until Lui found them and knocked Brian out with a sleeping spell. Later they explained to Brock most of the supernatural world rules and shenanigans ( _‘Yes, werewolves exist.’ ‘Yes, witches exist.’ ‘Brock, no, Santa is still not real.’_ ) and Brian was kind of forced to join Evan’s pack.

Since Brock was human, he didn’t understand how wolf courting worked. Brian had to woo him the old schooled human way… It had been a pain in the ass, but definitely worth it in the long run.

“Brian?” Brian blinked, looking at Brock who was frowning at him. “You were ignoring me.” Brock noted, huffing at him and leaving his side. Brian hurried after him towards the first floor (they were already done cleaning).

“I was thinking about how we met, babe.” Brock rolled his eyes and kept walking. Brian followed behind him like a lost puppy.  

“I got nightmares from that encounter, thanks.” Brian winced but hurried to catch his fleeing mate.

“Aw, come on… it wasn’t _that_ bad.” Brock stopped (Brian almost slammed into him), turned to face him and gave him _that look_. “Okay, it was pretty bad,” Brian relented with a mumble. Brock sighed and continued on his way towards the kitchen where Nogla was with Ryan, teaching the beta some recipe. Bryce had wanted some alone time, so he was huddled up in his room until dinner was ready.

Lui was not home today, so Nogla was probably going to do all the work in the kitchen. Ryan seemed to have offered to help, and Brian decided he wouldn’t bother the two bonding werewolves. He quickly took Brock’s hand and let him right out the room.

“What are you doing Brian?” Brock asked with a huff. “I told you we’re not having sex today—”

“It had nothing to do with that!” Brian interrupted, pouting. “But now that we talk about it, why not? It’s been a while…”

“We’re not having this conversation in the hallway.”

“Would you like to move this to the bedroom then?” Brian asked with a teasing smirk. Brock sighed.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t _moved_ by your offer.”

“Ouch.” Brian said, nearing Brock and leaning into his personal space. He knew Brock just needed a little push. The little human liked to make himself difficult sometimes. Brock backed away until his back hit the wall, Brian pinned both of his hands on the side of Brock’s head. They stared into each other’s eyes, electric blue meeting chocolate brown for the millionth time they’ve known each other. They shared an animalistic lust with a hint of defiance.

It was a waiting game: who will crave first.

Brian leaned in to Brock’s neck, inhaled his scent and whispered huskily.

“Still think you weren’t moved…?” Brock bit his lip before letting out a shaky sigh.

“I’m pretty sure that’s a _dirty move_.” The other muttered and Brian let a smirk grace his face as he ran his lips over the other’s skin, not quite kissing but caressing the pale expanse of the other’s neck. Brock took a sharp breath, slightly shaking under Brian’s touch.

“Damn right it was.”

“What in the what-what what what…” Both of them jumped at the sudden intrusion. At the front door, a couple of feet away from them, were Jonathan and Evan. Jonathan, who had said the incoherent sentence, was blushing like a teenage girl (as if the beta has never seen them kissing before), while Evan stood beside him with an amused look on his face. Evan, of course, knew this was a daily occurrence and as long as they never had sex on the first floor (A rule most of them had probably broken), the alpha wouldn’t be mad.

“Oh, Hi Jon.” Brock said in a high pitched, tight voice. Brian looked down, noticing why Brock looked in such a tight spot right now. Brian smiled smugly. When he sent the picture to his mate, Brock gave him a smoldering glare.

Jonathan stared at them for a couple of more seconds before mumbling something of ‘gonna check on Bryce’ and making a beeline for the stairs. Evan stared after him with a grin before turning towards them. His grin disappeared and a flat look replaced it.

“So… how did it go?” Brian asked awkwardly. Evan hummed, as if actually pondering on the question.

“Oh you know, it went pretty well. It would’ve been better if my friends told me in advance that, you know, _they were gonna set me up_.” Brock smiled at that.

“Evan, my friend… we all know that you wouldn’t have made the move if we had all been together.” Evan huffed at them.

“I would have.”

“No you wouldn’t.” Both Brian and Brock rebutted. Evan opened his mouth to argue against that fact when a shout came from the kitchen.

“Damn right he wouldn’t!”

“Shut up David!” Ryan’s soft chuckle came from the kitchen while Brock and Brian joined in with Nogla’s own laugh. Evan pouted at them, huffing once again and leaving the hallway, probably to his room. Brian huffed a laugh and nuzzled Brock’s neck with a low purr. Brock hummed.

“So… your next move?”

* * *

 

Bryce wasn’t having the best of days.

When he had been with Pack Law, he almost had a panic attack while being checked by the doctors of the place. They had been nothing but gentle and helped calm him down, but he just wanted to be with Ryan and the safety of their pack.

Their pack.

Ryan had told him about his conversation with Lui. Apparently, the witch (and Evan) wanted them to join the pack, they could provide protection. And while Bryce loathed the term ‘pack’, he couldn’t help but admit that he wouldn’t mind being part of this family.

Because a group can become a pack easily, becoming a _family_ though… that was much harder.

And Bryce just wanted a place where he and Ryan could settle down quietly.

He sighed, hugging his knees closer to his chest as he distantly listened to Ryan and David (The giant direwolf was awfully soft and gentle) bicker in the kitchen. Ryan’s laugh calmed him, his voice was smooth and soft and Bryce _loved_ it.

Bryce was kind of sad that Ryan wasn’t his true mate, but neither of them seemed to care at all. It wasn’t that important anyways. From what he’s heard from Brock, Lui and Nogla weren’t true mates either. And the pair was simply amazing. Maybe the Moon Goddess didn’t want to pair such spectacular beings together, but Lady Fate wanted it that way.

The door to his room was opened and quickly closed, making his spring into a defensive position. He relaxed when he noticed it was only Jonathan. A very red, very flustrated Jonathan. Bryce tilted his head, listening what was happening downstairs. He heard Nogla and Ryan still in the kitchen, but in the main hallway were Brock, Brian and Evan discussing something about Jon. But since it seemed like Evan and Jon just got here, that must mean that…

“I guess you finally saw the couple in action, huh?” Bryce asked the beta teasingly, the beta groaned miserably and jumped into bed with Bryce. Bryce tensed at the sudden movement, getting a few unwanted images ( _Of skin hitting skin, moans, cries, tears painohsomuchpainstoppleasejust—_ ) before he remembered that this was Jonathan. The wolf that had helped him and Ryan, that stood up for them and supported them always. The werewolf that protected them, the one with the unique pelt.

“Shut uuuup,” The other whined, covering his face with his forearm as Bryce laughed. Brock and Brian tended to get in hot make out sessions out of seemingly nowhere, and while Bryce had been horrified the first time he had found them, Ryan had explained them that both parties actually enjoyed the semi-rough treatment. Bryce just nodded dumbly while trying to block out Brian’s rather loud moans.

“Hey, at least it wasn’t as bad as the one time I caught them on the couch—” Bryce continued to tease, but Jon quickly interrupted him.

“Bryce stop! How can you saw that after we all sat in that innocent couch before?! I will never see it with the same eyes again! No!” the raven-haired beta cried dramatically. Bryce laughed and imitated him.

“Nooo!” Jonathan glared at Bryce without much heat behind it, making the werefox grin back at him. Jon’s glare turned into a mischievous grin and Bryce’s grin faltered. What was Jon planning now?

Before he could move away, the other werewolf pinned him to bed and attacked his sides, all the while grinning and laughing loudly.

“You won’t escape from me! No one escapes from the great Delirious! Muahahahaha!” Jonathan’s laugh was borderline insane, and if it weren’t for the tickles that the other was giving him, Bryce would’ve shivered at the creepiness of it. Not only was Jon’s howl crazed, it seemed his laugh was pretty crazy too.

“Stop-Jon stop!” Bryce tried to get away from Jonathan’s claw-like fingers, laughter bubbling out from him every step of the way, but Jonathan’s grip was relentless. Jon stopped, nearing Bryce’s face and whispered with a smirk,

“Beg me.”

And that made Bryce close in on himself. He remembered all those times he had begged at them, those times they forced him to beg, the times he refused to, the times where he just didn’t need to anymore because _he had gotten_ _used to it_.

Bryce froze, breath hitching, wide eyes in panic as his body trembled like a leaf. Jonathan noticed the change in his demeanor, letting him go immediately. Bryce wasted no time in shifting to his fox form, curling under the bed as his little body was shaken with harsh pants and whines.

He thought this was over! He was _over_ _this_! He _wasn’t_ this weak!

_But apparently, he was._

* * *

Jonathan fucked up.

He could hear the panicked whines of Bryce as his body froze in place.

‘I fucked up, I fucked up, I fucked up.’ He kept repeating in his mind as his own body succumbed to panic.

Jonathan took a deep breath, trying to calm down so he could help Bryce. This was his fault, he needed to fix this.

“H-Hey Bryce—” Jon whispered softly, getting on his knees to peek under the bed Bryce was hiding at. What he saw boke his heart.

Cornered between the wall and the bed, huddled in the dark was the panicking werefox. The white shifter was panting harshly, saliva dripping excessively from his mouth, orange eyes wild staring at nothing, sharp nails digging into the ground, hair puffed at the possible threat.

Jon winced, he stood back up. He couldn’t-He couldn’t help Bryce. He’ll only make this worse. Whispering some quick reassurances at the werefox, Jon sprang into action. He left the room quickly, going down the flight of stairs with amazing speed. He got into the kitchen and searched for Ryan.

“Ryan! Ryan, its Bryce! He’s—” Before he could finish his sentence, the other beta quickly left the meat he was cutting and ran the way Jon came. Jon stared after Ryan longingly. He wanted to help Bryce, but he will only make things worse.

Like he always does.

Taking a deep grounding breath, Jon straightened and faced David, who was eyeing them in confusion. Jon winced and offered a smile.

“Sorry about that…”

“No, it’s no problem. But what happened to the little fox?” Jon took a deep breath.

“I…I think I sacred him a little...”

“Just a little?” Nogla asked with a raised brow, Jon winced.

“Okay, maybe a lot. But I didn’t meant to!” Nogla’s eyes softened at Jon’s agitated tone. Jonathan looked away, he didn’t want to see the pity in the other’s eyes. He respected the direwolf, the black werewolf was very strong (Even if he was very gentle deep inside).

“I…I’m going for a run…” Jonathan muttered, turning away from Nogla. He felt the werewolf move behind him, as if to follow him, so he turned back around, glaring up at the taller male. Nogla met his gaze with a stern one of his own, something Jonathan thought he wasn’t capable of managing. The direwolf was always seen, after all, with a dopey smile (When he was with Lui) or with a frown/scowl (When he wasn’t with Lui). Jonathan was momentarily thrown off by the sincerity and concern in the other’s eyes.

“It wasn’t your fault, no matter what happened,” David told him quietly. Jonathan shook his head. It _had_ been his fault though! Bryce was having an awful day as it was, he just brought the pain to a whole new level. The poor omega was probably still panicking thanks to Jon’s idiocy. If Jon had known he wouldn’t have done that, if Jon had known he really would’ve kept his distance… he… **_fuck._**

When Jonathan didn’t falter, the direwolf sighed, turning back towards the stove to keep up cooking. Taking that as permission to leave, he bolted out of the house, stripping off his clothes in the process.

He needed to clear his head for a bit.

* * *

 

Evan felt something was wrong.

There was a tenseness in the air that he couldn’t quite comprehend. Curiously, after a quick shower, he went outside. He was surprised by the sound of Brian and Brock’s hushed voices outside of Bryce and Ryan’s room, their forms practically excreting worry into the air. He frowned and headed their way.

“What happened?” He asked seriously, and Brock sighed, running a hand through his black hair.

“It’s Bryce. He… he was having a panic attack…” Evan nodded seriously, but he knew there was something else. He gave Brian a look and the other werewolf sighed.

“And Ryan doesn’t want to let us in…” The other added grumpily. Evan sighed, knowing about Ryan’s protective nature regarding Bryce. He smiled at the couple.

“How about you help Nogla with setting the table? I’ll see what I can do.” Both males nodded, leaving Evan to tend to the small problem. Evan took a deep breath, knocking on the door before pushing it open.

He immediately heard the warning snarls headed his way. He raised a brow, entering quickly and closing the door behind him, facing the very big problem before him.

Ryan had shifted into his wolf form, towering over the broken bed and ruined sheets, snarling angrily at Evan. His gray fur stood on ends in a show of aggression, his form tense, eyes shining a bright yellow in a posed threat. Evan looked past Ryan’s form, catching a glimpse of Bryce’s body, before being blocked by Ryan. The gray werewolf snarled at him. Evan raised his arms.

“I’m not going to do anything Ryan, I just want to help Bryce.” Evan explained, but the beta didn’t listen, merely snarling louder at him. Evan sighed and dropped to the floor, surprising Ryan. The big grey wolf stopped snarling, confusion dancing in his face as Evan laid there, on the floor, unprotected, _vulnerable_.

Evan sighed at the ceiling, relaxing into his position. He saw Ryan shifting uncomfortably in the corner of his eye but he ignored the other male, merely relaxing in place. After a few seconds, when Ryan saw that Evan wasn’t going to move, the werewolf neared his side slowly. Evan looked at him as the other wolf moved, Ryan wasn’t looking at him, but at the floor, as if ashamed. When he finally reached Evan, Ryan nosed his hand in greeting. Evan chuckled.

“You’re such a grumpy baby, Ryan.” The gray wolf huffed at him, biting gently on his hands before heading back into the makeshift den he had built for Bryce. Evan sat up quietly, staring at the two.

Bryce, now that Evan could see him, was trembling slightly, staring at the floor with dull orange eyes panting slightly. The small omega was so out of it that he didn’t even react when Ryan settled by his side, nuzzling him. Ryan whined lowly, clearly hurt by Bryce’s unresponsive form. Evan stared at them with saddened eyes.

The alpha crawled towards them quietly, alerting Ryan who started to growl at him lowly. It was more of a warning, not a threat yet. Evan ignored him, nearing them until he was a foot away from Ryan. The growl was still present, but it was obvious that the werewolf wasn’t going to attack him. Evan stared at Bryce’s form, shivering and staring at nothing, and tried to get the other’s attention.

“Bryce?” The omega didn’t even flinch, so Evan tried again, using a little of alpha power in his voice. “Bryce.” At that, Bryce flinched violently, scrambling back towards Ryan with a yelp as if he had been struct. “Shh shh it’s me, it’s Evan.” Bryce didn’t react, just scrambled away from him. Evan sighed, Ryan whined.

They needed help.

_Magical help._

* * *

 

Lui was minding his own business when he received the call.

No but really, he had been at the hospital (he _works_ there as a freaking nurse for fucks sake!) when Evan called him about Bryce having a panic attack. And really, Lui should’ve seen this coming from miles away. The poor kid was traumatized, getting prodded and questioned by the stoic doctors from Pack Law obviously wasn’t going to help. But it was protocol so there was nothing the male wizard could do about it.

So Lui had to excuse himself, telling the hospital that he had a family emergency and that he had to leave ASAP. They understood and let him go kindly, thankfully without cutting his paycheck (They weren’t low on money, but Lui liked to buy his own stuff without having to ask Evan for anything).

 He quickly took his car and returned to the packhouse, making his way as short and quick as wizardly possible. Before long he reached the place, feeling the vitals of most of his packmates in the household _(Evan’s strong one; Brian’s, Brock’s, and Ryan’s nervous ones; David’s excited one and Bryce’s painful one)._

Their grim faces weren’t the best welcome he had received (but they weren’t the worst either).

He quickly headed towards Ryan’s and Bryce’s room, watching Brock, Brian and David standing before the door with worried glances.

“Do you know why he’s panicking?” Lui asked seriously, straight to the point. Brock and Brian shook their heads but David remained silent. Lui silently addressed him, using their special pack link to question him further about what could possibly have happened to the poor omega. The only response he received was an image of Jonathan’s hurt blue eyes filled with regret.

“So it was Jon huh…” He muttered to himself, opening the door while he heard the others splutter in shock behind him. He closed the door quietly, staring at the two transformed werewolves before him, taking about half of the room and making a big werewolf fort with the small werefox in the middle. Bryce wasn’t looking so bad, the omega just looked unresponsive.

As if reading his thoughts (Which he probably did due to the pack link), Evan huffed. He shared memories of how Bryce had panicked when he had tried to help him as a human, and about how the fox gradually calmed down once he saw Evan’s wolf form. Lui neared the pile in the room, trying to climb Evan so he could get to the center of the doggie fort. Evan growled lowly at him, trying to bite his ankles lightly. Lui smacked his snout away.

Lui showed Nogla’s memories to Evan, the same picture of the hurt Jonathan, and Evan tensed. Lui tried to placate the leader but he could practically the rage and confusion plowing through the pack link.

_‘Why would Jon do that? Why would he run away? Why would he hurt Bryce? What really happened?’_

“Just talk to him, I’ll look out for Bryce.” Evan didn’t need to be told twice, the giant werewolf stood up, shifting swiftly but not bothering to pick up his clothes from the ground. He had a dangerous glint in his eyes that Lui didn’t like. “And Evan,” Evan turned to one of his best friends, raising a brow, eyes tinted an angry red. “Just…just listen to what Jonathan has to say okay? He’s been through a lot…” Evan remained silent, but Lui knew the alpha had heard him.

As Evan left the room, Lui neared the small white (now) hissing werefox.

“Well aren’t you a cutie…” He cued in a high pitched voice. Bryce’s hiss grew into snarls.

His eyes shined blue as he began to chant…

* * *

 

Jonathan ran.

It was one of the things he did best. Running away from his problems, running for his life, running away from the possibility of finally having a pack…

Always forever running.

He was pretty far out of Evan’s territory. He still didn’t know where he was, but at the moment he didn’t care. All he cared about was the strain in his legs, the burning in his lungs, the sound of his harsh pants, the words in his head that he wanted to clea _r but fuck he had hurt Bryceandhedidn’tmeantoheswears—_

It wasn’t working very well.

His legs finally gave under him, sending him tumbling to the ground and eating up a mixture of grass and dirt. He spat the things out, panting as he tried to stand back up again. He managed to shakily do so, before almost falling once again.

His day had been going so well. _So fucking well_. **_Why…?!_**

He let out a soft wail-like howl, painfully aware that he could’ve alerted whatever was around him of his presence but at the moment _he didn’t fucking care._

He stopped, dropping to the ground, trying to recover his energy so he could go and run off the edge of the world and die maybe.

He was the worst…

 _Click_.

Jon’s ear straightened at the sound. He tensed, looking around sharply before spotting white lens poking out of a bush. He stared at the thing curiously before another click and a flash went off, nearly blinding him.

 _Okay, so they were taking pictures of him as if he were a freakshow… great._ He grumbled, standing up to leave.

“A-Ah wait! I’m sorry! I should’ve asked before taking the picture!” Jonathan stopped in his tracks, looking back to see a young male, about Bryce’s age, but much more shorter, with brown eyes and an easy going smile. “I was waiting for my friends to come here but I think I don’t see them…” he muttered, an annoyed look crossing his face.

Jonathan eyed the stranger warily, moving slightly to get away from the weird person. The kid moved towards him, smile ever present. _As if he wasn’t talking to a freaking 5ft wolf what the hell._

“I always see Gorilla and Dracula here playing, but I haven’t seen them today…” He mutters, a distant look crossing his face. “I hope they’re okay…”

Okay… this was your cue to leave Jonathan… just… back up and don’t make eye contact…

“…Can you also see things…?” The other’s voice was so small that Jonathan might’ve not heard him if it weren’t for his heightened senses. He stopped, turning slightly towards the male and sniffing the air curiously. The other seemed human, didn’t have an ounce of gunpowder on him or any other dangerous substances (Like _wolfbane)_. “I…I sometimes have these dreams… or I take pictures of something and another thing just pops up… like-like randomly!” Jonathan never heard of anything like that, so he just sat down, listening to the kid ramble about how he once took a picture of a butterfly and ended with one of a warehouse set alight in flames. It was weird… maybe the kid was something, but Jonathan couldn’t be sure. He barely knew half of the community of creatures, how was he supposed to know if humans could have special abilities?!

So, Jon just listened, for once not thinking about what had happened earlier, just listening to the rambles of this stranger, sometimes posing for the occasional photo ( _“You’re such a natural, your fur is so cool dude._ ”), but mostly just listening. He began to doze off quickly, his eyes closing involuntarily when he heard twin snarls. He quickly stood up, a growl low in his throat as two werewolves shot out of the foliage, glaring at him. One was a white albino wolf while the other was a dark brown one, both glaring at him warily while trying to get to the Kid’s side.

“Oh Gorilla! Dracula! You’re here!” The teen exclaimed in happiness, making his way to the two wolves (that were about his same height) and patting them on the heads. ‘Dracula’ snapped at him while ‘Gorilla’ stared at Jonathan hard. Jonathan met his gaze without flinching, bowing his head in respect.

He had intruded in another pack, and Evan had shown him that if he treated them with respect, everything would be fine.

Gorilla huffed, walking towards Jon with a friendliness that had Jonathan tense. _What? That was it?_

Dracula didn’t seem to like Gorillas method, for the white albino stayed near the kid, sitting besides him and getting pampered like a little kid. Gorilla invited Jon to play with a playful jab and a loud sharp bark. Jon blinked. This was… this was _weird_ … Why couldn’t he have found these wolves days ago? Standing up, Jon saw that he was a little taller than Gorilla, Jonathan opened his front legs in an uncertain play bow. He had seen Brian and Ryan play like this, even Bryce, so maybe this was the thing…?

To his surprise, Gorilla responded by nipping at his ears playfully and then running away. A sudden warm rush filled Jon, a thrill that he quickly tried to overcome by chasing after the other werewolf. They turned into a black blur, slamming into each other, rolling on the floor, sometimes even prodding at ‘Dracula’ to get the albino werewolf to play. Dracula just snapped at them before turning back to the kid. The human ( _Human?)_ just laughed at them, snapping pictures and ruffling their furs when they came close enough.

Jonathan almost forgot about Bryce.

 _Almost_.

He was just occupying his mind with something else. Trying to focus on the strain of his body, on the slight challenge that came with sparring Gorilla, on the kid’s laugh and Dracula’s slightly angry mood.

All that went to shit when a black mass attacked Gorilla while they had been sparring.

Dracula immediately stood up with a loud snarl, white fur standing on end at the threat, the kid was behind him, frozen in place with wide eyes. Gorilla stood up from the ground with a loud growl, eyes flashing gold in anger. Jonathan stared at the newcomer, dread filling him at the waves of anger that came pouring out of it.

 _Evan_.

The alpha was panting harshly, glaring at the group before his eyes landed on Jonathan’s. Evan’s eyes flashed an angry red as he stomped towards Jon. Jon lowered his head with a pitiful whine.

_He didn’t mean to hurt Bryce! It was an accident! He just wanted to—!_

A snout rubbed against his neck, making him yelp in surprise. Evan ignored him, continuing to rub himself all over Jonathan in every wolfish way possible. As he did so, he glared at the other three. Jonathan was confused, but stayed still. He didn’t want to anger the alpha more than it already was.

When Evan was finished, he growled one more time at the unknown trio before barking sharply at Jonathan. He then turned away, trotting back the way he had come. Jon took the cue and followed after his alpha quietly, but not before nodding a goodbye to the three beings that kept him company for the last few minutes of his life.

Jonathan followed Evan, who appeared to already have a direction in mind. The other werewolf didn’t turn towards Jonathan for the whole trip, just listening to him intently (Proven every time Jon stepped on a twig, as the other’s ears twitched). Jon worried more the farther they traveled.

What if Evan didn’t want him in the pack anymore? Hell, of course he didn’t want him in the pack anymore! Jonathan had a loose screw, he was a train wreck, all fucked up. He should’ve kept running. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to see Evan’s angry face or hear how good he had fucked up indeed.

Jonathan whined lowly, watching as Evan’s pace faltered before turning into a high paced jog. Jon hurried after him.

Yup, Evan definitely hated him. And that was okay. Jonathan hated himself too. He had hurt Bryce, he had hurt his _friend_. And that was just… that was wrong. _So wrong_. Especially when Bryce had trusted him _with so much_. Trusted him to save him, trusted him to protect him, to goof around, to be his friend.

Jon was truly the worst.

Evan stopped suddenly, Jon mimicking him as he looked around. He was surprised to see that they were back in the packlands. They were near a small trail, and there were a lot of rocks and fallen trees surrounding the area. Before he could look around any further, Evan talked (When had he shifted?).

“You can’t even begin to _know_ … how _frustrated_ I am feeling right now, Jonathan.” Uh oh… he was _Jonathan_ now… he had always been ‘ _Jon’_ when they had become somewhat friends… The Jason-like werewolf turned into his human form, ready to defend himself when Evan raised a hand to stop him. “ _Don’t_. Please. I need to tell you how I feel about… _this_ … first.” So Jonathan shut his mouth, watching as Evan closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, before talking again. “I… I know what you did to Bryce…” Jonathan flinched unconsciously.

“I didn’t mean to! It was an accident—!”

“Oh, was it? Or did you just feel like you could take advantage of a little weak ome—”

“ _Bryce is not like that!_ ” Jonathan screamed at Evan, feeling furious at the reminder that someone _had_ taken advantage of Bryce at some point in his life. And just because Bryce was an omega it didn’t mean that he was weak. Hell, Bryce was practically a contradiction of your average omega, tall, strong, mischievous. “I… _I didn’t know_ …” Jonathan hissed, holding back tears because he _hadn’t_. He thought that Bryce’s abuse had only been physical, that he had been hit and starved, but they had— _they fucking had_ —

“Even if you _hadn’t_ known, you shouldn’t have been that reckless, Jonathan.” Evan wasn’t looking as angry as before, he just looked extremely tired and so done with the world. But Jonathan was a raging inferno now, his anger had lit up, all the pent-up frustration and feelings were just rolling off of him like tidal waves.

“I know I fucked up, okay!? I always do, it’s just who I am! I never—I never had to worry about _anyone_ before! _Never_ , it was always, **_always_** , just _me_! I never had brothers that I worry about, a pack to care for, friends to play with—So excuse me, _Mr. Alpha,_ for not knowing how to comfort a friend that was smelling like the personification of sadness itself! And also, _my apologies_ for not knowing what to do because _he panicked and you couldn’t even talk to him without fucking—”_ He needs to calm down, he needs to, but god, he was so mad and so frustrated because he had left Bryce and Bryce needed someone—But he didn’t need **_him_** _(because he always makes everything worse)_ , but he still _shouldn’t have left_!

“You need to breathe…” Evan’s voice sounded really close, too close, and Jonathan had to blink because w _hen had the alpha gotten this close…?_

“I…I didn’t mean to… it was… it _was just tickles…”_ Jonathan whispered, slumping against a tree trunk, resting his head backwards and looking at the sky with sad eyes. He didn’t know that Bryce was triggered by contact… but then again, he hadn’t known the extent of the damage that the other pack had done to Bryce…

_This world is so fucked up…_

“Jon I… I know you’re telling me the truth… and this… this _wasn’t_ your fault… you _didn’t know_.” Evan whispered, sitting next to Jon. Jon laughed harshly. What a hypocrite Evan was…

“Then why did you imply I wanted to take advantage of him then? Why did you accuse me, chase me, you were mad at me you can’t deny it—”

“I didn’t want to show any preferences in the pack, Jonathan…” Evan cut swiftly, making Jon blink. _Preferences_? “I… I was frustrated when I learned it was you… but then I just kept thinking and thinking and I knew it couldn’t have been _on_ _purpose_ —but I still had to give Bryce the benefit of the doubt… I was trying to stay mad at you…but I fucking can’t…” Evan laughed hollowly, making Jonathan even more confused.

“Yeah, then why can’t you?” Jonathan sarcastically asked, annoyed at the alpha before him. He can’t just change his opinion whenever the hell he wants to... well, he _can_ but he shouldn’t because that’ll just confuse Jonathan further and Jon wasn’t the brightest lightbulb in the room, he had to admit.  

“Because you’re my mate…” _Wait **, what?**_

“What…?” Evan took a deep breath, turning towards Jon, brown eyes staring deeply into Jon’s blue eyes.

“You… are my mate…” Evan repeated, and Jonathan flinched _hard_ because _h o w…?_ You’re supposed to know who your mate is when you see them… why did Jon… why couldn’t _Jon_ feel _anything_ for Evan then? He didn’t feel anything for Evan, only respect (because he was a strong alpha), and a little slight pull (Once again, because he was an _alpha_ ), but nothing more. So, that lead Jon to two possible options: One, Evan was fucking with him, or Two, Jonathan was a defective werewolf (Who knew, another fuck up he was!).

And he thinks it’s the first one.

“You’re kidding…” Jonathan hissed, glaring at the alpha. Evan shook his head, eyes saddened and Jonathan felt a _little_ bad but still angry.

“I don’t know why but for some reason you’re not feeling the pull, and it’s been driving me insane for the last couple of days _because you’re so close but so far away and it **hurts**._ ” Jonathan closed his eyes, he didn’t want to see the alpha that he had respected, had _feared_ at one point, lower himself to Jon’s level. The alpha could do so much more. And he was probably confused.

“It’s not me…” Jonathan whispered, surprised by the snarl that followed his words. He flinched.

“No. It-It _has_ to be you!” Jon took a deep breath and shook his head.

“It doesn’t has to be _me_ … you can… you can do so _much better_. I’m just a fuck up, I’m a rouge, I’m not worth—” Lips smashed into his own, silencing him. A spark lit up, warming his whole body with warm, hot, need, safe, protect, mate _mate **mate** **MATE**_ —

Holy shit, Evan _was_ his mate.

Jon let out a grunt of surprise, returning the kiss eagerly, feeling the alpha nip at his bottom lip for access that he complied to without a second thought. Evan’s tongue invaded his mouth, exploring, scavenging, savoring. And Jon didn’t mind, didn’t mind one bit, as he sucked and played with the other’s tongue.

Jon didn’t know how it happened, but suddenly they were both on the ground, Evan pushing on him with a growl as he pinned him and _fuck that was hot_. Evan sucked on his neck, grinding his naked hips and naked glory on Jon’s naked form. The blue-eyed male met up the other’s hips with his own, creating a delicious friction that was driving him insane. He ran his hands along Evan’s body, exploring, memorizing, feeling.  Jonathan was feeling too hot and needy and god just—

Evan stopped suddenly.

They both were panting loudly, uncomfortably hard as lust and arousal filled the air. Jonathan sat up, Evan still close to him, hands on his hips, as he ran a hand through his black hair.

“Damn…” Jon muttered in slight awe, because _damn_ … Evan _was_ his mate…. How had he not noticed before?

“I know…” Evan agreed, making Jon chuckle.

“Why did you stop?” Jon asked, a slight teasing edge on his voice. Evan took a look at him, at his body, and stood up. Then he began to pace. Jon knew it was because he was probably distracting the alpha, so he also stood up.

“I… I don’t want to mate you _here_ …” Jon scoffed.

“It doesn’t matter where we do it—”

“It matters to _me_ , Jon.” Evan cut in, eyeing him with narrowed eyes. Jon sighed, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, okay. Geez… where do you want to do it then… _alpha_?” Jon teased, whispering the last word in a sultry voice, watching in mirth as Evan tensed and growled lowly, eyes flashing red.

“House.” The alpha gritted, eyes still red. Jonathan laughed, nearing Evan, watching carefully as the alpha’s eyes softened and a small content smile formed in the other’s face.

_How had he missed this?_

 He wasn’t sure, but he was happy that he knew now.

Evan was his, and he was Evan’s.

* * *

 

He did it.

He… he finally said it.

Jon had kissed him back.

He could die happy and go to heaven. Actually, no, he takes that back. He could die happy _after_ they mate.

He feels bad that it had come to the confrontation, but it appeared that only after Evan initiated the contact, Jonathan was able to feel the pull. It was very weird, really. Maybe Jonathan was the defective one after all… and all there days he thought he was the one at wrong here…

Evan and Jon walked in stride, slowly next to each other, a content hum emanating from Jon’s body that had Evan pleased. Jonathan was holding his hand after saying that “He didn’t feel anything if they weren’t touching.”  Evan found that extremely weird, since they had touched before and _nothing_ had happened, but it seemed that the kiss (THEY HAD KISSED!!!) had sparked something in Jon.

It had definitely sparked something on Evan too.

They headed towards a small cottage that Evan had in the woods. It was beside a lake, so they were following the river to reach it. The cottage was from Evan’s parents, it was the only thing that remained after the attack done to his pack. The packhouse had been burned down, so they had to rebuild it. But the cottage had powerful runes that Lui had used to protect them… It was a magical place that had a _meaning_ to Evan.

He wanted to mate with Jonathan there.

He would’ve waited to make the occasion more special, but neither of them could wait for that long (if the earlier make out session was anything to go by).

“What’s so special about this place?” Jonathan asked quietly, his hair being blown away from his face by the slight wind. Evan still wondered how he managed to get such a beautiful mate.

“Well… It’s a special place, magical, and… well… alpha pairs always used to mate here,  my parents told me.” Jon remained silent, which Evan took as Jon’s pensive self. Jon wasn’t usually silent.

“Where…where are your parents?” Evan sighed, knowing this was going to happen when he mentioned the special place.

“They… died.”

“Oh…” Jon didn’t seem surprised though, just sad. “I’m sorry.” Evan smiled.

“It wasn’t your fault. It was just hunters…” Evan shrugged. Now that time has passed, Evan was feeling more at peace with the issue. His pack had been killed by hunters when Evan was young, barely five years old. His pack was always strong, too strong, which the hunters thought was bad for them because they could turn on them in the blink of an eye. So one day, they just… attacked. They killed almost the whole pack, with the exception of Evan, Tyler and Lui (Who had protected them with his magic).

Evan had been so mad. So _so so so_ _mad_. He sought revenge, he even got an army of rogues on his lands when he was old enough, he did everything in his power to get those hunters back because _they had killed his family_. But then Marcel appeared with Simone. Asking for refuge and a pack and Evan couldn’t say no to them. And then came Craig, Brock, Nogla, Brian, Ryan and Bryce. And now Jon. And Evan couldn’t really bother with seeking revenge anymore. Not when he had so many people to protect, so many people that needed him.

He couldn’t leave them alone.

Don’t get him wrong, he would fucking kill them if given the chance, but he wasn’t pursing them as he did when he was younger.

“At least you knew them.” Jonathan smiled at him, but he didn’t look jealous or anything, just happy for Evan. Evan smiled at him.

“Yeah… Mom was the greatest alpha ever… she was strong and agile and witty, so serious, and Dad… dad was a soft hearted alpha, always looking out for everyone else and very sarcastic, they were so different but so perfect for each other… a perfect alpha pair.” Evan could still remember them, faintly. He knew both of their wolves were black, completely black, and his dad has dark brown hair while his mother had short black one. They both had warm brown eyes. Evan blinked rapidly, trying to hold his tears in. God… he missed them…

“They sound really amazing.” Jonathan commented, noticing that Evan was feeling touchy and not prying any more. For that, Evan was grateful.

“They were.”

After that, they continued walking towards the small cottage, shifting so they could get there faster. Without actually meaning to, their walk turned into a game of tag, filled with nipping in inappropriate places or generally scenting each other by rubbing themselves together.

When they got to the small cottage they felt the magic stir in the air. It was a prickly feeling, not producing, but invasive. Like a thick coat of leaves stuck on your body, it was there, tingling around them. He saw Jon shake his fur, trying to get the feeling out. It made Evan laugh.

The cottage was surrounded by big rocks with runes, shinning faintly under the sunlight. The trees also had runes, making a circle around the small structure and the rocks. In the center of the small circle was a spiral, which was made by even _more_ runes. They were a mixture of good-luck runes, protective runes, spirit runes, power runes and more.

Evan turned to Jon, watching as a wisp appeared before the other’s face. He blinked. Was that supposed to happen…? The blue wisped danced in front of the weirdly coated wolf, laughing and whispering things that Evan couldn’t understand. He tilted his head as even _more_ wisps appeared. What? He quickly sent the image to Lui for further reference. The mage will also tell the team that they were… _busy_.

Jon backed away from the wisps, yelping when one stuck to his tail. He tried to chase his tail to get the wisp off of him, but while spinning, even more little flashing lights stuck to him. After a while, Jonathan huffed, multiple wisps stuck to his fur in all places, including the one on his head. Evan found the image completely adorable.

Evan neared Jon, making the wisps hiss and disappear into thin air. They both stared at each other before shrugging.  Evan led Jon to the small place, shifting to his human form while smiling charmingly at Jon.

“After you, my dear Wisp Whisperer.” Jon shifted after him, laughing slightly.

“You mean Wisp King. Get it right.” Jon smirked entering the wooden structure. Evan rolled his eyes, following after him.

The inside of the place was cramped, only having a small bathroom to the left and the kitchen to the right of the door. There was a hallway directly in front of the door that continued to a room with a King-sized bed. Jon wasted no time in throwing himself to the bed, stretching and rolling over, scenting it (Probably without knowing). Evan growled, eyes flashing red as he pounced after Jon, their mouths meeting greedily. The sparks that lit up weren’t anything like what Evan had read about true mates, they were much better.

They rolled in bed, rubbing on each other for a few seconds before Evan pinned Jon, attacking the other’s neck with his mouth. Jonathan moaned, moving his hips to meet Evan’s own, creating a sinful friction but for Evan, it wasn’t enough.

Evan took his time licking the place he was going to mark Jon, as with one hand he roamed Jon’s body, settling in his member. He slowly pumped it, watching with interest as Jon turned to putty under him. The blue-eyed werewolf was panting harshly, sweat glistering on his skin, flushed body, it made Evan hungrier that he already was.

Jonathan moaned his name, pumping his hips upwards, already leaking while trying to get Evan’s hand to work faster, but Evan just pinned him down, growling at Jon. Jonathan whimpered, searching his lips. Evan returned the kiss; heated, a mess, but it was _their_ mess.

Evan left Jon for a second, searching a nearby nightstand for lube to use. Jon wasn’t an Omega, so he couldn’t produce any slick to lubricate his entrance. When Jon groaned a semblance of a question (because those hadn’t been words, Jon was too far gone for words), Evan explained a quick “Lube”, before coating his fingers in the stuff.

He quickly turned to Jon, turning him around so he was facing the other’s behind. When Jonathan made a noise of complaint, Evan licked his way up his column, all the way to the hairline, whispering soft words of reassurances on the other’s ears while inserting his fingers into the other’s hole. Jon tensed under him, breath turning labored as his face scrunched in discomfort. Evan tried to alleviate the discomfort by maneuvering a hand under Jon’s body, giving his dick a few confident strokes that made Jon moan lowly.

Evan took his time prepping Jon up, he didn’t want to hurt his mate after all. When he was satisfied with his job, he stroked his own already hardening member. In that moment, he saw Jon sit up, turning to face him with a glare.

“I don’t want to do it doggy style.”

The bluntness of the words had Evan blinking, lustful haze lessening a little, before laughing loudly, because _that was just so Jon_ …

Of course Jon would say that during one of their sexy times… _of course_ …

“I’m being serious Evan! I… _don’t laugh_!” Evan grinned instead, kissing Jon on the lips before setting their foreheads together.

“Yeah? What you’re gonna do about it?” He whispered teasingly. Jonathan surprised him by pushing him to his back. Evan almost fell off the bed with a manly (totally) yelp, but Jon dragged him towards him, straddling his hips. Evan felt the lust once again start to build up at the contact, fueled by Jonathan’s satisfied smirk and slow grind on Evan’s dick.

_Jon wanted to ride him, Jon wanted to ride him, Jon wanted **to fuck** —_

Jonathan got into position, stroking Evan once again, kissing Evan gently. Evan was surprised momentarily by the gentleness of the action, but he quickly followed the other’s action, softly moving his lips against his mate’s. While he was distracted, he felt Jon slam down on him. He gasped, feeling electricity run through his veins.

Jonathan stilled atop him, face scrunched in slight pain as Evan thought _“I was going to tell you, it was better for you the other way_.”. But Jon wouldn’t have listened anyways, so he stayed shut, feeling as his mate’s muscles contracted against his member, making him crazy with lust. He just wanted to turn their position and slam constantly into Jon until he howl his named at the moon—

But then Jon moved, blinding Evan with pleasure. He moaned, mimicking Jon’s own breathy moans, his hands gripping the other’s hips, marking. Jon set a quick pace, bouncing and moving his hips while pleasuring both of them. Jonathan started to stroke himself, face flushed, blue eyes filled with lust; an image that would stay in Evan’s mind forever.

Evan, with a sudden burst of strength and dominance, flipped their positions. He slammed into Jonathan, feeling the other’s legs wrapping around his torso, keeping him in place. Evan ruthlessly thrusted into the blue-eyed male, watching as the other squirmed under him in pleasure, especially when Evan hit that one spot that made Jonathan arch off the bed with a sharp cry, penis leaking precum. Evan repeated the motion, growling when Jonathan moaned his name over and over with feverish pleasure.

Evan could feel their release close, his teeth sharpening. He neared Jon’s neck once again, nibbling and sucking on the spot, encouraging Jonathan to do the same. Evan grunted, feeling as Jonathan released his load on his chest, the other’s teeth sinking into the juncture of his neck with a long moan. Wincing in slight pain, Evan followed after quickly, blinded by the sudden explosion of pleasure as he bit into the blue-eyed male. His body slumped afterwards, practically squishing Jonathan under him. He felt his knot forming as he licked Jon’s mark with care.

Jonathan was finally, finally his….

His beautiful mate…

Evan kissed Jon’s forehead gently, nuzzling the other’s neck with a content hum. Jonathan was still under him, quiet, which worried Evan. Had he hurt him? He wasn’t feeling any regret, right? Evan pulled back a little, the knot pulling inside Jon which caused them both to groan. Evan sighed, defeated.

He moved them to a more comfortable position, when Jonathan let out a long groan, then a whine.

“What are we supposed to do _now_?”

Evan laughed.

* * *

 

Craig was having the bestest day.

Totally bestest.

He and Tyler had gone and had mall sex in a bathroom (They almost got caught but not quite). Then Tyler had taken him to eat, away from the pack for a few hours. Werecats weren’t too keen on having packs, so it was a surprise to find one in a pack at all. But Tyler was loyal and a very good friend, so very different from the usual aloof werecats that Craig had read about (Which was practically why it had came as a surprised to the blonde when Tyler had turned all furry on him).

Then they went to the city, window-shopping until Craig saw a plushie that reminded Craig of Bryce. It was a fluffy white cat, from a Disney movie that he couldn’t quite remember at the moment, but it was fluffy and Craig immediately wanted to buy it for the omega. Tyler had agreed with him (his mate had a soft spot for the omega too), but only after saying that they had to buy a Friday the 13th blanket for Jonathan.

On their way home, late at night, they were both carrying a lot of gifts for practically everyone (most of them were for the three newcomers though).

His bestest day achievement was crushed though, when he reached the packhouse and the place was filled with a tense silence. He and Tyler quickly shared glances, going into the house. Inside, Brock and Brian were eating with Nogla at the dining table. There were no traces of Evan or Jonathan, neither were there traces of Lui, Ryan or Bryce. Craig immediately asked,

“What happened?” Brock sighed, Brian shook his head. Nogla was the one that answered him,

“Jonathan accidentally triggered Bryce into a panic attack…” Craig winced, knowing just how much those sucked. He used to get them before, after mating with Tyler. It was almost always dreams that triggered him, but there were times when they were at the streets that he felt like some people were following him and were definitely going to kidnap him again and hurt him. Panic attacks weren’t good. Tyler held his hand, sensing his distress. Craig squeezed it back in reassurance.

“We had to call Lui to call him down.” Brock continued, eyes tired.

“Where’s Evan?” Tyler asked, leaning against the wall with the bags of presents.

“He went after Jonathan. He was furious.” Tyler sighed, taking the bags and giving Craig a face that said “Imma take these upstairs” before fleeting the room. Craig sighed too.

“I… Shit, this day was doing so well…” He muttered.

Brian and Nogla suddenly tensed, which Craig noted instantly. He turned towards the stairs, hearing light footsteps as Ryan came down with tired looking hazel eyes. He gave them a small salute, went to the kitchen, took three water bottles and a couple of fruit, and made his way back upstairs. Nogla slumped in his seat and Ryan sighed. Craig winced.

“They’ve been like this all day?” He asked.

“All day.” Brock chorused.

“I think I’m going to play some GTA…” David muttered, an annoyed look on his face. He was missing his mate. Craig smiled at him sheepishly and said,

“I’m going to join you then.”

Not half an hour later, Marcel and Simone joined them. Marcel joined in on the game while Simone went to the dining room to speak with Brock and Brian about what happened with Bryce and what was going to happen in Bryce’s trial. Tyler had gone downstairs to play with them when Craig hadn’t gone up to join him.

It was silent in the packhouse, they were all united for Bryce.

No matter what.

* * *

 

Bryce sighed at Lui’s jokes.

“What’s the difference between a bird and a fly?” Lui asked once again, Bryce rolled his eyes, Ryan smiled in mirth.

“That one is an insect and the other isn’t?” Bryce asked sarcastically. Lui laughed.

“No silly! A bird can fly, _but a Fly can’t bird!”_ Bryce groaned, but a smile was adorning his face.

He was feeling… better now. He slightly remembers panicking with Jonathan, and then snapping at Evan, then he remembers a blueish hue and…

And then there was Lui.

Lui had helped calmed him down a little, telling him jokes whenever he felt too overwhelmed, or using his magic to physically calm him.

Ryan was adamant about letting the mage near him, but after a few seconds, after Bryce was coherent enough to shift back, Ryan remained shut, staring intently at Lui’s every movement. And for that, Bryce was grateful.

He feels… bad. And tired. He just wanted to sleep, but every time he closes his eyes, he remembers and he doesn’t want that right now.

Lui was doing a great job at distracting him. Making puns and telling him stories, telling stupid jokes… it was nice. Like he was the old Bryce again, before the pack had started to treat him wrongly, before he presented as an omega.

It was like having a family again.

Bryce sighed, hearing his stomach grumble at him.

“I’m hungry…” Bryce muttered, making a move to stand up and go downstairs. He didn’t want to face the guys at the moment, but he would if he had to. Food called.

“Ryan can go get some food, right Ryan?” Lui asked, tilting his head at the hazel-eyed brunet. The werewolf in question gave a tired smile that had Bryce wincing. He knew this wasn’t only taking a toll in him, but also on his friend. Ryan left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Lui chuckled.

“Guess what?” The other asked. Bryce tilted his head, thinking it was just another joke.

“What?” He prompted the other male. Lui grinned.

“Evan and Jon just got together.” Bryce gaped, was he serious? Lui nodded with a cheeky grin. “It seems Evan told Jon about them being mates and Jon accepted him.”

“That’s… that’s awesome!” Bryce managed, still a little confused by it. Jon hadn’t been forced, right? because then… well, Bryce would have a talk with Evan and he was certain that a few things would be flying. Maybe his claws and teeth.

“Don’t worry, Evan is not like that.” Lui smiled knowingly, to which Bryce huffed.

“Most alphas are.” He muttered, knowing from experience. Lui frowned, Bryce tensed. He… he didn’t mean to say that.

“Listen Bryce… I… I saw what happened to you.” Bryce tensed, but he was too exhausted to do anything else. Lui kept talking. “And it was awful, _your pack_ was awful. I believe they shouldn’t even be considered that, yours.” Bryce took a deep calming breath, taking in what Lui was saying. It was true, Bryce didn’t consider them _his_ pack, hadn’t in a while. They were his tormentors, his abusers, his own personal demons. That’s why he wanted more, maybe a family, and if that wasn’t possible, a quiet place where he could live in with Ryan (or by himself). “But _we, our pack,_ is not like that. Evan is not like that. He’s one of the best alpha’s I’ve seen in my life, and I’ve been alive for a long time…” Bryce frowned at the information. So, Evan hadn’t forced Jon then? That’s… good.

He was still going to talk with Evan though. He didn’t at his friend to suffer. And Bryce wasn’t going to let the fact that Evan was an alpha bring him down; he’ll drag Ryan with him if he had to (The grey werewolf would work as a great shield).

“God… I gotta tell everyone… they’re gonna be so happy!” Bryce frowned. Happy? Lui grinned at him. “Our big bad sexy wolf has been pinning on him from the start. And since he’s a little weeny cowardly wolfy, well… we’re just happy he confessed.”

At that moment, Ryan entered the room. His arms were full of different fruits and water bottles, he had a smirk on his face.

“Oh, I’m telling Evan what you said, little witch.” Lui gaped, glaring at the brunet werewolf.

“Nu uh, you’re not!”

“’Cowardly wolfy’, you said.”

“Those words never left my mouth!”

Bryce laughed as they began to bicker. Ryan offered him the fruits, which he took greedily. He ate the two bananas, an orange and an apple, and downed two water bottles. Lui whistled from his place on the trashed bed.

“Baby got appetite.”  Bryce bared his teeth with a hiss, pieces of bananas stuck to his cheek. Ryan chuckled and wiped his face, Bryce blushed.

Maybe he was a bit of a baby.

Lui grinned and stood up.

“Well, since you’re feeling much better, I think I’ll leave for the night… I think Nogla must be worried as hell… that idiot…” There was something soft in his voice, a fondness that one usually didn’t hear in a person talking so harshly about someone else.

Even if these two weren’t true mates, they were definitely made for each other.

Lui escaped the room, closing the door behind him quietly. Bryce was quiet for a few seconds, aware of the mess they had made in the room. The bed and dresser were broken, sheets all over the place, mattress turned vertical, pieces of wood and pillow lying on the ground, defeated. Bryce sighed.

“We gotta clean this up…” He muttered, stifling a yelp of surprise when Ryan just threw the mattress to the floor, taking one of the blankets lying around and covering it up. He then laid down, looking at Bryce in invitation. Bryce raised a brow. “You’re just going to…?”  Ryan shrugged.

“Well, _I_ was the one that made this mess. And I will clean it. _Tomorrow_.” The other said, before opening his arms invitingly at Bryce. Bryce huffed, cuddling next to his friend with a content sigh.

They were silent for a few seconds, just breathing each other’s scents when Bryce spoke, quietly.

“I…I’m sorry I had a panic attack.” Ryan growled at him, Bryce ducked his head.

“You can’t be serious… it wasn’t your fault—”

“It wasn’t Jonathan’s fault either!” Bryce interrupted, Ryan gave him a stern look.

“It wasn’t your fault…” He continued. “…Or Jon’s. It was those bastard’s, they thought that they could take advantage of you because you were a nice person and because you didn’t have anyone that cared for you. Well they were wrong. And now, that stupid rash decision is going to bite them in the ass when you face them in court.” With that said, Ryan huffed, embracing Bryce close to his chest with a content hum. The omega felt quite pleased with this, replying with a low purr.

“Ryan…” Bryce muttered.

“Yes, Brycey?” Bryce waited, debating on whether or not to tell Ryan what he wanted to tell him for such a long time. What he had been feeling for such a long time, that it wasn’t just gratefulness.

“Promise me that you won’t leave me?”

“I promise, Brycey.”

_Maybe next time._

* * *

 

The two days before the trial at Pack Law were a blur.

Jon and Evan had come back to the Packhouse, with mated marks on their necks. Everyone kept congratulating them, Evan received them with a proud grin while Jon blushed at the implications that _everyone_ knew.

Jon was always a little conservative.

Apart from that, the pack took a trip to the beach to help Bryce relax. Everyone enjoyed the sea water, their abnormal behavior kept drawing the attention of other beach goers though, so they had to try and keep a low profile.

Keyword: try.

They had buried Tyler in sand, beaten a bunch of college students at beach volley (That had actually been Ryan’s and Brian’s fault mostly), charmed half the females and caused a few nosebleeds: their usual pack business. Evan should be happy that none of them had shifted.

Bryce and Jon had patched things up (even though there wasn’t anything to patch up) at the beach, Jon apologizing profusely and crying that he ‘hadn’t known’ while Bryce held him and comforted the other male. Soon after that Bryce and Jon were back to their usual mischievous selves (They were the ones that buried Tyler, the sneaky duo).

Bryce was extremely nervous those two days, always jumpy and anxious about facing his greatest fear once again. Lui and Brock (and of course, Ryan himself) had been there for him, always calming him down before he could have a panic attack like last time.

Ryan was constantly grateful for Lui.

At first, he had doubted the wizard, as he had doubted the pack’s intentions, but he quickly opened up to them after helping Bryce through the severe panic attack. Now, Lui was one of the people he trusted more in the pack. The wizard was reliable, strong and could keep secrets very well.

At this moment, Ryan was extremely grateful of Lui.

Bryce sat in his chair, wearing a tailor suit, beside Brian (Who was looking sharp and professional as hell) and another male (A white haired young man with a pair of glasses, wearing a black and white suit). Both Brian and the other male were the lawyers. Lui was standing before Bryce, talking softly to him while they waited for the trial to begin. Ryan could see them from his place in the back of the court (Where the whole pack was, behind Bryce’s stand), and he could feel worry well up inside of him. He wasn’t worried about something physical happening to Bryce, more like he being wounded emotionally again.

He couldn’t handle the uselessness that came with Bryce’s panic attacks again.

“Ryan, can I have a word with you?”  Evan was by his side, looking at him sternly. Ryan frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Evan motioned him to follow, Ryan looked back at Bryce, seeing him surrounded by the pack, and followed after the alpha. Once outside, they sat by some benches.

“I know the guys already told you to keep a level head during the trial right? Don’t let anything they say get to you.” Evan started, to which Ryan nodded. Evan smiled. “Good. Also, I wanted to know how you’ve been coping?” Ryan chuckled.

“It’s not me who’s going to testify in court Evan.”

“But you still worry for Bryce, and I can see that its taking a toll on you too.” Evan pointed out, making Ryan wince. In truth he hadn’t been sleeping well. Wondering about what could happen if things went south today and how they (Bryce and him) will probably have to live a life running.  The pack obviously didn’t want them until Bryce was out of this mess, so they were out of the question in case things did get out of hand.

“I’m a little stressed.” Ryan admitted sheepishly. Evan surprised him by giving him a hug. Ryan tensed, resisting the urge to push Evan away. When Evan didn’t let go of him in a couple of seconds, Ryan circled his hands around Evan, holding on to the alpha. A sudden warm rush filled him, a soothing relaxing sensation that made him almost go slack against the stronger male. Evan chuckled.

“Well, I hope that helped.” Ryan was confused.

“What… what _was_ that?” Evan shrugged.

“Alphas aren’t only fighting machines. We know how to comfort one of us when they need it. Alphas aren’t emotionless just like omegas aren’t powerless.” With those words, Evan left for the court room once again. Ryan was left pondering the words and the fact that Evan had comforted him.

Evan thought that he was part of them. Evan thought he was pack.

A warm happy feeling raced in his body, making Ryan flush, pleased for some reason.

Jon opened the door of the room, poking his head out and looking left and right. when he spotted Ryan, his eyes filled with annoyance.

“Hurry up, this thing’s about to start.”

Ryan hurried after him, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“I’m coming.”

* * *

 

Jon was stressed.

He didn’t know how the others couldn’t see it. He thinks they were too focused on Bryce or something. But Jonathan was preeeeeeetty sure that no one was as stressed as he felt.

And he felt _everything_.

Why didn’t anyone tell him that once you were in a pack you felt everything? It was too overwhelming. He was hyperaware of the other’s location, of what the others were feeling, of the mixture of pictures thrown in around the place, it was a mess. It wasn’t unwelcomed, but it was just so bizarre for him that it gave him headaches every once in a while. He hadn’t told Evan because hey, maybe he just needs to get used to it. Maybe it was a matter of time.

He was only able to focus on something specific when he was near the other werewolf, his _mate_. Evan made the stress and pictures and scents fade away, and made him focus on his scent, on his image, on his eyes and his touched and his feelings.

It helped, a little.

But it didn’t help much, when Evan was probably as stressed as the others felt.

So, that left Jonathan, a mass of stress and anxiety,  sitting alone in a court room because Evan had to take the front rows with Tyler (The leader of the pack and the second in command). Jonathan was a few rows back, barely containing himself, with Ryan on one side and Craig on his other one. Craig and Ryan both looked nervous, but not as nervous as Jonathan. His leg was bouncing, he was nibbling on his lips, and he wasn’t listening to anything that was being said.

“Jon… Jon, are you okay?” He suddenly felt ‘CRAIG’ as the human pulled on the packlink, making Jon wince. God, that hurt. He gave the other a grimace.

“Yeah… just have a headache…” Craig frowned, but let it slide. Ryan leaned into him, offering bodily comfort. Jon sighed, leaning into the other’s touch. It calmed him down a little, helping his nerves and the tightness in his chest, making him focus back on what was happening up front.

The prosecution (Them) was finishing their opening statement, the judge looking at them with narrowed eyes before switching his gaze to the other pack’s side. They continued with then with the prosecution of a witness. Jonathan tensed, and so did everyone, because it seemed too soon to call Bryce, too fucking soon, much sooner than anyone could handle. But Bryce stood up, proudly going to the stand and answered the questions asked.

Jonathan was very proud of his friend.

After calling the other witnesses (Which included Anthony, a wolf from the former pack, and Evan, their alpha), the defense could ask some questions to the witnesses. And of course, of fucking course, they called Bryce.

Bryce took a deep breath, heading to the podium.

“So, Mister McQuaid, tell us what you claim the alpha did to you in detail—” The other pack’s lawyer began, quickly being cut off by the white-haired male beside Brian.

“Objection!” He said, posing like… like Phoenix Wright? What? “Badgering!”

“Sustain.” The judge says in a low hum. The white haired male sits back down with a satisfied face while the lawyer smiles charmingly at the judge. Jon raises a brow, confused, but then he turns towards Bryce and sees the other looking at the podium with hooded eyes, hands gripping the wood with a death grip and trembling lightly. Jonathan… didn’t like this.

“Okay, Bryce McQuaid. How old are you?” Bryce responded with a quiet.

“Seventeen…”

“And you live alone?”

“Irrelevant!” Brian calls from the stands, the judge fixes him a look and says,

“Overrule.” The stands remain silent, Brian angrily hisses to the guys sitting beside him.

“Uh… I live in Ev—Alpha Evan’s packhouse…” Bryce answers, uncomfortably.

“With Alpha Evan, huh? Is he good to you?” A simple question, but it definitely triggers something in Bryce, for the younger male stiffens suddenly, freezing.

Jon growls loudly from his place in the stands, making a move to stand but Craig and Ryan hold him down. They have to physically push him to sit, because Jonathan is shaking in anger, as if every person in their packlink were channeling their anger towards him. Jonathan was breathing harshly, his vision focusing solely on the lawyer, like a predator eyeing his next prey. His fangs began to elongate and he was whispering to himself _“Stop it Jon, you can’t do this here, you can get them outside.”_ Only it wasn’t his words, it was Craig’s. And that small promise helped hold down his beast, his rage, his tempest, for a while.

“He…”

“Objection, Relevance!” The white-haired male stood up once again, glaring at the dirty lawyer. The judged gave them the sustain once again, but the sadistic dirty lawyer was obviously having a great time tormenting Bryce.

“Did you promise Mister Fong bodily favors like you did to your former alpha?” And that made Jon snap. It was like a gas can was dropped in his already growing fire, it spread with an intensity that even Craig and Ryan couldn’t predict. Jon launched himself from his chair, surprising everyone on court, giving the lawyer quite the scare too, because Jon was lunging for him. And he had the front rows, his skin had already grown dark wolf hair while his claws elongated and his blue eyes shined dangerously. It was Evan and Tyler who stopped him, but he was still snapping and throwing insults to the lawyer and the abusive alpha.

Evan quickly excused himself, leaving Tyler to deal with the diplomatic issues (“Jon is new in the pack, he was probably overwhelmed”), while he dragged Jonathan’s snarling ass out the court room.

Everyone was surprised by the display and the judge had to call a break so everyone could cool off.

Once outside, everyone fretted over Jonathan, trying to calm him down. It wasn’t really working well. Everyone was still very worked up, and that meant that Jonathan was also worked up. Lui had told them (After checking quickly on Jonathan’s state of mind) that Jon had apparently amplified the others emotions. He just didn’t know _why_ or _how_ , but he theorized that it had something to do with the fact that he couldn’t sense his mate when he first met him.

“So how do we calm him down?” Tyler asked gruffly. Evan was sitting beside Jonathan, huffing him lightly while Jon took deep breaths. The anger had resided, but it was still dormant and it spiked every time he thought about the words the other lawyer had said. Jonathan growled lowly, eyes flashing an eccentric blue again at the thought of Bryce being accused of seducing someone… when he obviously wasn’t and the boy hadn’t enjoyed any part of it and what sense does that make in—

“You need to calm down Jonathan.” Evan sighed, nuzzling Jon’s neck. Jonathan returned the gesture with a whine.

“I’m trying.” He whined. Ryan stared at them with a puzzled look.

“If what he’s doing is amplifying your feelings, don’t you guys just need to chill?” Ryan told them, and everyone blinked.

“That’s…”

“True.” Brock winced, looking at Jon, who was looking puzzled.

“Wait, I don’t think it’s a great idea for Jon to go back inside.” Lui started. Everyone began to agree, nodding their heads, making Jonathan huff in annoyance.

“What? You guys think I can’t control myself?” He huffed. Craig laughed, Marcel rolled his eyes.

“No, idiot. You already proved that.” Jonathan glared at the dark-skinned werewolf with distaste. “I personally think I can’t control myself, so if you’re feeling _my_ anger and _your_ anger, combined, plus the anger of _everyone else_ , I don’t think you’ll hold up in there.” Jon sighed.

“I-I’ll do fine guys—”

“The worst is that we can’t feel you in the packlink… how did we not notice?” David muttered.

“Well, it took me a while to feel anyone at all so I didn’t think it was that weird…” Simone whispered. Craig titled his head, nodding slightly, Brock followed. Jon groaned. Were they seriously ignoring him?

“Well, we have ten minutes to either calm him down or let him out.” Tyler said. Jon growled.

“Can’t I have a say in this?” He hissed, eyes flashing. Evan next to him chuckled, kissing his neck and his lips chastely.

“No can do love.”

“I can stay with him outside…” Ryan offered, surprising everyone.

“…I can stay outside too…” Brock offered. Ryan scoffed at him.

“Yeah, and you’re going to hold him off when he wolfs out again?” Everyone winced, including Jonathan who flinched violently. Ryan sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry, but I want everything to be alright, for Bryce. So please just… let me stay here. You guys go back in. It’s almost time.” The others looked at each other, giving each other grim nods before heading back towards the court room.

Jon was left with Ryan, who relaxed next to him. Jon was still nervously bouncing his leg up and down when he heard Ryan chuckle.

“It was so obvious you were going to explode, now that I think about it.” The burnet admitted, giving Jon a grin. Jonathan huffed at him, looking away.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Ryan stared pointedly at his leg, Jon became aware of how fast he was moving it and forced himself to stop doing it. “Shut the fuck up…” He muttered, making the other laugh.

They remained silent, letting the time pass with no further actions. Jon still could feel the other’s emotions, but they weren’t as overwhelming as before. At least now he mostly felt Ryan’s worry and slight frustration. Jon felt bad for Ryan.

So Jon did the only thing that he could think about at the moment, he hugged the other werewolf. He tried to convey calm and trust and safe to him while whispering encouraging words to him.

“Bryce is going to be okay, don’t worry. You’ll both be fine. I’m sorry you’re stuck with me but I’m grateful too.” Ryan returned the hug, both using the mutual relaxation technique while they waited.

And they waited…

And they waited…

The court room opened, surprising them. They both quickly straightened, standing and dusting themselves when the pack came out. They gave them knowing smiles, a warm pleasant feeling filtering through the packlink that blinded Jon and nearly had him in the clouds. It was heartwarming, different, less tightening than what he had been feeling the past few days and more of a free feeling. It was…

It was light. It was freedom. It was floating. It _was bright and new and hope._

It was beautiful.

And then there was Bryce.

Bryce immediately jumped on them when he came out, crying tears of joy and sobbing on them as he hugged Ryan and Jonathan close to his body, never letting go. Jonathan and Ryan both returned the gesture, feeling a bond strengthening as the pack watched them with smiles (some were teary) of their own. They soon felt arms surrounding them, at first it was Evan, then Brock and Lui, soon followed by Simone, Marcel, Brian, David, Tyler and Craig. Jonathan could feel the content and lightheadedness and he could finally put the feeling into words.

 _Happiness_.

He was happy, because he finally had a place in which he belonged.

 _They_ had a place in which they belonged.

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooooo~ OMG THIS WAS SO LONG...Im glad you sticked to the end :D hope you enjoyed it too :D the next part :D wont be as happy :D and fluffy :D as this one :D just a warning...  
> >:D  
> I know you wont wanna hear me ranting about life so I’ll ask an important question: Pancakes or Waffles? :3  
> Hehehehehe, I’ll let you all know that I was eating pancakes while writing the last part of the story :3 NVM I was writing this note before finishing the pancakes but the mix stuck to the pan and it was a trouble so I gave up and now imma eat an unhealthy amount of Cheff Boyardee at 10;30 pm cause why not (Im that salty)  
> Anyways, I was planning on another story (SORRY I KNOW I SHOULDN’T BUT THE IDEA IS SO GOOD I SWEAR YOU GUYS WILL LOOOOVE IT) but I need help creating the universe and stuff so… if you all will like to help maybe PM me? :3 it will be greaaaatly appreciated.  
> PS: I dunno if you noticfed but im very bad at legal stuff (So i had to google... stuff)  
> If theres anything wrong with things tell me plsssss im all for constructive criticism :D  
> have a nice day.


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